Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker
by EverAfterWritings
Summary: We all know what happened with Berk after the dragons left, but what about the other tribes? This story follows our beloved Berserkers as they navigate their new dragon-less life. How did Dagur and Heather come to live on Berk? What happened to their Island? Best to read How to Say Goodbye, but not necessary. Rated T for subjects such as abuse, death, and some sexual content
1. Waking Up

Once a Berserker Always a Berserker 

When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. I slowly sat up and tried to focus on my surroundings. My head was groggy. I slowly made out my ax in the corner of the room. Wait, it was my room. Okay, I was in my room.

"I thought I heard you stirring!"

I looked up and saw my brother walk in with a steaming mug of something that smelled awful.

"What happened?" I asked. I groaned and rubbed my head. I had a horrid headache.

"Oh, you just had a bit too much to drink last night. We said goodbye to the dragons, remember?" Dagur asked.

I groaned and laid back down in my bed, covering my face with a pillow.

"I have my specialty drink for you! The one that cures hangovers!" Dagur said, holding out the foul smelling cup to me.

"Yeah, it cures hangovers but causes about thirty other diseases while it's at it," I muttered.

"Very funny, sister," Dagur groaned. He shoved the cup into my hands.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"How are you feeling? I know yesterday was rough," Dagur said.

I just shrugged. I had had to say goodbye to my best friend. How do you think I was feeling?

I rarely ever drank, if I did it was just at a party or something with everyone else. I never got drunk. But yesterday… I don't know everything just kind of happened.

"We need to go to Berk. Maybe Hiccup knows why they all left," I muttered as I took another sip of my brother's strange drink. It actually was starting to make me feel better.

"I can get the ships ready," Dagur said.

"Hey, on our way there, we should probably check on Mala and my niece and nephew, make sure their Eruptadon is still there," I suggested.

Dagur sighed. Things had gotten complicated between him and Mala. But he nodded nevertheless and told me he'd have the crew set up courses there.

He was about to leave when I said, "Hey, brother?"

He turned to look at me from the doorway.

"Thanks for the drink," I said, smiling and holding the drink up.

He chuckled. "Of course, sister. Now, get out of bed and get dressed," he instructed with fake strictness.

"What's in it anyway?" I called after him.

I heard him laugh from down the corridor. "You don't want to know, sister!"

I sighed and stretched my arms before climbing out of bed.

My clothes had been hung on the back of the chair at my desk. I smiled slightly, realizing Dagur had been so careful and neat with them. After about ten minutes I was dressed and my hair was pulled back the way I usually did it. My ax was slung over my back.

Berserker Island was a loud place. I walked out of our house and went to the docks. There were people laughing, talking, arguing, shouting, and whispering. There was not a single person that wasn't making some kind of sound. But that's just how Berserkers were. Children ran around and had fun, most of the time without much supervision, but they were always fine. I like to think it made them tougher. Several people stopped what they were doing as I walked by so they could say hello and ask how I was doing. I guess most of the town knew about my uncharacteristically dark night. I just responded with my greetings and told them I was doing fine. I didn't want them to know that inside I was dying.

I saw the mop of bright red hair by the docks and made my way towards it. My brother was one of the only redheads on the island, certainly the only one with red so bright.

"Dagur, are the ships in place?" I asked.

"Sister! So glad to see you up and about. You and I will be taking a ship ourselves. Just an old trade ship we no longer use," he explained, pointing to a ship that had definitely seen better days, but it would serve its purpose.

"When do we leave?" I questioned, looking over the ship.

"As soon as you are ready to go. I have already packed my things and I have some of our people loading the ship up with supplies," he answered.

A young viking woman approached us and bowed slightly. "Chieftess, the ship is ready, just as your second in command asked," she said.

I smiled and thanked her. When she walked away the smile quickly left my face. I didn't feel like smiling. WindShear was gone.

"I am ready to go when you are," I said, turning towards my brother.

"Then let's go, chief," he teased. He knew I hated being called chief. I mean that is what I was, but it sounded like too big a title for me. It made me feel like I needed to be 100 times better than what I am.

"Shut up, brother," I responded, shaking my head slightly.

Dagur laughed and boarded the ship, heading towards the wheel.

"Okay, my trusty navigator, set a course for the island of the Defenders of the Wing!" He laughed, gesturing for some men on the docks to untether the ship.

I quickly jumped on the ship and went to get our maps. First stop, Mala. Second stop, Berk.


	2. Once a Father, Always a Father

Once a Father, Always a Father

"So, sister, do you think Mala will be happy to see me?" Dagur asked, his hands guiding the ship's wheel. I sat behind him, leaning back on a crate of fruit.

"I'm sure she will. I mean, you are technically still her king. You guys separated but didn't officially divorce. And I know Ozzy and Marina will be ecstatic when you arrive," I reasoned. I picked up an apple from the crate behind me and bit into it. I looked up at my brother and held the apple out to him, tilting my head in question. Dagur nodded and I tossed the red fruit to him.

"I have missed both of them a lot. They're three and two now. Can you believe that?" He chuckled before taking a bite out of the apple. He tossed it back to me.

"I know, it's so crazy to think that it has already been three years since Ozzy was born and I became an aunt," I said, looking down at my lap. I absentmindedly took another bite out of the apple.

Oswald, whom we called Ozzy, was one hundred percent his father. He looked exactly like him and had his laugh and adventurous personality. Marina, on the other hand, was one hundred percent Mala. She had blonde hair that was kept at shoulder length if that long, and she was very much a logical, analytical person. She was quiet, saving her words for when she had something important to say.

"You know, they will probably ask you to sing for them tonight," Dagur said.

I smiled slightly. Ever since they were babies they had loved when I sang my lullaby to them. I always enjoyed singing it for them as well.

"Hopefully Mala won't still be mad at you," I said quietly.

Dagur frowned and sighed. He and Mala had fallen so deeply in love and had gotten married so quickly. They didn't have much time to get to know each other as well as they should have. But for the first two years, they made it work. They did it for Ozzy. However, when Marina was born, it added more stress to their marriage and they decided that instead of arguing all the time in front of their children, they would spend some time apart. Not forever, just enough to clear their minds.

That was a year ago. Dagur had come home but insisted that I remain chieftess instead of reclaiming his chief status. Secretly I was glad he had come home, I personally never really got along with Mala. Dagur says it is because we are a lot alike, but I don't see it. But I loved my niece and nephew more than anything else in the world. I would do anything for them.

"What is that?" Dagur asked, pointing at a thick black cloud on the horizon.

My eyebrows furrowed as I strained my eyes to see what the cloud was. I sniffed the air.

"Smoke?" I suggested.

"Weird," Dagur muttered.

I checked the map in that had been set on the deck beside me.

"Oh my gods, Dagur," I gasped.

He turned to look at me. "What is it?" he asked worriedly.

"Dagur, that's the island. That's Mala's island," I said quickly. I stood to find our telescope so I could get a better look.

"What? But why is it covered in that cloud of smoke?" he asked. I could tell he was questioning what I had said.

"Well if all the dragons had to leave…" I muttered. I found the telescope and held it up to my eye. "That is definitely the island…" I whispered.

Dagur's eyes widened. "Oh, Thor… Heather, if all the dragons left, the Eruptadon could have gone with them!" he exclaimed. I nodded in agreement.

"That means the lava would have destroyed the entire island, hence the smoke," I explained. I felt like I was in shock… I probably was.

Dagur appeared to be slightly in shock too. His face was expressionless and his hands gripped the ship's wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Dagur are you okay?" I asked.

He shook his head softly. "I have to get over there, now!" he said urgently. He ran down to the main deck and started raising every sail we had so that the wind would get us there faster.

I took over steering.

We worked as quickly as we could, never stopping, even when we had gained speed.

* * *

As we got closer to the island the smoke become thicker and the smell of burning wood was strong. We tied cloths over our mouths and noses to keep from inhaling too much smoke.

"Do you see anything?" Dagur asked.

I shook my head silently. I looked around and saw the lava spilling off the side of the island.

"Sail all the way around, maybe there is a place where survivors are staying," I instructed.

Dagur didn't respond but turned the wheel to do as I had suggested.

"Heather, if they are…" His voice cracked.

Turning away from the island, I quickly lessened the space between my brother and me, resting my hands on his shoulders. "Dagur," I said, "don't think like that. We don't know what happened yet. I am sure there are survivors somewhere."

Dagur nodded, wiping a couple of tears from his eyes.

I had a bad feeling about this, but I didn't say anything. I didn't want him to have a complete break down when there is still a possibility of his wife and children still being alive.

We lowered the sails so that we could go slower, that way we would have more of a chance of seeing someone.

When we got almost halfway around the island without seeing anything, we started losing hope. Lava was flowing into the ocean at every angle possible. There wasn't a spot of land that wasn't flooded with the liquid fire.

Dagur and I were both completely silent as we made it all the way around the island. The only sound was the soft waves against the hull of the ship and the crackling of burning trees. There were no survivors.

I glanced over at my brother. He had fallen to his knees and was sobbing. I had never seen him so broken. My vision was getting blurry from the tears in my eyes as well. I may not have gotten along with Mala all the time after she married my brother, but she meant a lot to him, which means she meant a lot to me. And my niece and nephew were everything to me. At this point in my life, I wasn't sure if I would ever get married and start a family, what with being chief of the Berserkers and all. So being able to be an aunt was the most amazing thing for me.

I walked over and knelt next to my brother, wrapping my arms around him. My sobs joined his.


	3. Dreams and Nightmares

Dreams and Nightmares

We didn't move for a long time. I didn't dare let go until he started to get up. His face was full of rage. He stood and looked up at the sky, his hands balling up. He let out a loud yell full of pain and sorrow. It sounded like a sound a wounded animal would make before they died.

"Dagur, breathe," I said softly, wiping the tears off my face, even though they were replaced by fresh ones second later.

"We have to find who did this," he muttered, clenching his fists.

"What?" I asked.

"Somebody took the dragons away. They are responsible for this. They are responsible for the death of my wife and kids!" he yelled.

"No, brother. We can't go down the revenge path again. Remember how it ended last time?" I reminded him.

He shook his head and pounded his fist on the railing of the ship.

"No, Hiccup will know who did this. We have to get to Berk," he said. He took quick paces to the wheel and turned the ship towards Berk. It would only be about two days journey by ship, but that was if we went top speed the whole way.

"Dagur, you need to think about the fact that Hiccup might not know," I said.

"Seriously? You are forgetting that if all the dragons have gone, that means Toothless left too. You and I both know that our one-legged friend would never let his dragon go without a fight," he reasoned through clenched teeth. His eyes had fire in them, as if at any second he would start smoking and explode.

He did have a point though, Hiccup wouldn't let the dragons go without a fight. None of the dragon riders would.

"You're right, brother, about Hiccup and Toothless. But you are wrong about revenge. Revenge and violence are not answers anymore, not in my book," I told him.

"Well, for Mala and my children, they will be answers for me!" he yelled.

"Dagur, you are forgetting that I am your chief! If I say we are not going down the path of revenge, we are not going down that path!" I yelled in response.

Dagur growled in frustration and turned around to punch the air a few times. I jumped forward to grab the ship's wheel so that we wouldn't spin off course.

"Dagur, go below deck and rest. Take some time to process," I told my brother. He glanced at me over his shoulder.

"Is that an order?" he asked under his breath.

"As your sister, no, it is a suggestion. However, as your chief, I can't have you steering the ship in this state," I explained.

Dagur retreated to our room below deck. I could see fresh tears in his eyes.

The whole ordeal was tragic and heartbreaking. My heart broke for my brother, who had just lost everything. My heart broke for my niece and nephew, who had gone much too early, they were so young. My heart even broke for Mala, who had been an amazing queen and an even more amazing mother.

I sniffed and picked up a Nadder spike off the deck, who knows why it was there, and used it to pin the steering wheel in place. I started taking short quick breaths as my eyes burned. I sat down and leaned back on the fruit crate from earlier and cried my heart out.

I prayed it was a dream, but I knew it was real. Dreams don't hurt so deeply. My hand rested over my chest. My heart hurt. It felt like it was actually being torn apart.

Why did the dragons have to go? If they had just stayed or if we had some kind of warning we could have stopped all this from happening. We would have had enough time for an evacuation. I am sure Mala tried to evacuate everyone, but the lava from that volcano moves so rapidly, it is nearly impossible to send out the alarm in time. I thought of all the families that had lived there. So many children as well. Now they were all gone, burned alive by the harsh liquid fire.

* * *

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

It felt like somebody had ripped my heart out of my chest and had made me watch as it was cut up into tiny pieces.

I sat on my bed, my elbows in my lap and my head in my hands.

"This can't be happening," I muttered over and over.

I got up and paced my room silently.

"It isn't real. They are fine. This has to be a dream. A horrible, terrifying dream! Yeah! I am just going to wake up and everything will be fine," I told myself. I quickly walked to the bed and laid down. I shut my eyes tightly. I kept them shut for a few seconds then opened them.

"Why am I not waking up?!" I yelled, jumping off the bed and pacing the room again.

I slowly started realizing that deep down, I knew they were gone. My family was gone.

Rage made my blood boil. I yelled a battle cry and attacked the wall.

I punched it over and over, yelling each time my fist came in contact with the rough wood. When I finally stopped, I fell to the ground, wincing as I noticed the blood on my knuckles.

I groaned and walked over to a basin of water and cleaned the blood off my hand and wrapped it in a clean cloth.

I was exhausted. I laid down on the bed and shut my eyes, attempting to go to sleep. Eventually, I fell asleep, but it was far from dreamless.

* * *

Mala smiled up at me. She was tired and sweaty, but to me, she had never been more beautiful. I gasped when I saw the tiny bundle in her arms. I lifted my hand to gently move the soft blanket down a little so I could see better. A tiny human stared back at me.

"It's a boy," Mala whispered.

I laughed and beamed from ear to ear. My eyes took in every inch of the baby's face. His eyes were green like mine and his mother's. A little tuft of red curls peeked out from under the swaddling cloth.

"He's so amazing," I whispered, gently brushing my thumb across his cheek. To my delight, I was rewarded with a soft coo from my son. I chuckled in awe of the little human before me.

"Do you want to hold him?" Mala asked.

"Can I?" I questioned, sitting down on the bed next to her.

Mala laughed. "Of course you can, he is your son!" She handed him to me and helped me figure out how to hold him the right way.

Never in my life have I ever felt so much joy and so much love for another person. I mean, I loved my wife more than anything, but this was different. This tiny person was something that my wife and I had made together.

"Have you thought of any potential names?" Mala asked as she moved to rest her head on my shoulder.

"Well I have always wanted to name my first son after my father," I said quietly.

Mala hummed in agreement. "I like Oswald. And I have been thinking of a middle name…"

"Oh, you have?" I asked.

My wife nodded. "I was thinking we should use the name of our greatest ally and friend," she said.

"Yeah?"

"How does Oswald Hiccup sound to you?" she asked.

I smiled and looked down at the baby in my arms. "It's perfect," I responded.

Mala kissed my cheek and reached her hand down to brush against our son's face.

"Hi, Oswald Hiccup, I'm your mum," she whispered.

"And I am your daddy, Ozzy," I said softly.

Ozzy soon fell asleep in my arms.

* * *

The surroundings of my dream changed.

Ozzy was sitting in my lap, he was about one year old.

"Mama?" Ozzy said, pointing towards our house.

"Yeah, Ozzy. Mama is in there. She is getting you a baby brother or sister," I said softly.

Ozzy didn't understand of course. He just kept saying, "Mamamamama" and pointing at the house.

I sighed and nodded. I wished I could be in there with my wife, but my son needed me too. Mala had said she would be fine and had told me to stay with Ozzy, but I couldn't help but worry.

We waited for hours. Ozzy and I had gotten on the ground and we were looking at some bugs in the grass. I told Ozzy all the names of each bug, but all of them were "buggy" or "bug bug" to him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the midwife walked out of the house and waved at us.

"It's a girl!" she called out. I jumped up excitedly.

"Did you hear that, Ozzy? You have a baby sister! Do you want to go see her and mama?" I asked, picking him up.

"Mama!" he said happily. I laughed and carried him into the house and to the bedroom.

When I saw Mala and our baby girl, I was speechless. It was such a beautiful sight.

Ozzy and I quietly walked over.

"Hey, baby," Mala said, talking to Ozzy.

"Mala, she is beautiful," I said. I sat on the bed with her and Ozzy climbed up with us.

"May I?" I asked, holding my arms out.

Mala nodded and handed the little bundle to me.

I chuckled when I looked down at her. She had quite a head of hair, all blonde. Her eyes were shut tight, but I figured they were probably green like the rest of us. Her little mouth was pinched into a cute pout.

"Hey, Ozzy, look over here," I said. Ozzy crawled over to peek at the baby.

"This is your little sister," Mala said, kissing his cheek.

Ozzy giggled and reached out to touch the baby's hand.

"Name ideas?" I asked my wife. We had agreed that she would pick the first name, and I would pick the middle.

"Marina," Mala said simply. I nodded.

"Marina, from the see. I love it," I responded.

"I'm glad," she said. She kissed my cheek lovingly. "What about a middle name?" she asked.

"How about Heather?" I asked.

Mala bit her lip, thinking about it.

"Babe, I know you two don't always get along, but she is my sister. I want our daughter to have something from her," I said.

"Marina Heather… It suits her," Mala finally said. I smiled and mouthed, "thank you" to her before kissing her forehead.

* * *

My surroundings changed once again. The scene was so painfully familiar.

Our home had a heavy feeling in it. I remembered the feeling all too well. Lately, it seemed all Mala and I did was fight. We couldn't be in the same room together without starting an argument. We both had a lot on our plates. I still had responsibilities with the berserkers, plus my responsibilities as king of the Defenders of the Wing. Mala had her responsibilities as queen and she had to pick up the slack whenever I had to go back to Berserker island to check on things. My sister was an amazing chief, but those were my people. And Mala and I both had our children to care for. We were both under a lot of stress and pressure.

But the fight that happened the day that was getting replayed in my dream, was the worst one yet.

We yelled at each other, probably loud enough for the entire village to hear. I know it hurt our kids.

That fight ended with Mala yelling at me to leave. And I did. What I wouldn't give to take that back. To stay and tell her we needed to work it out. To tell her how much I love her.

The last thing I saw before I woke up was her tear stained face.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

"Dagur, are you okay?" Heather asked. She was sitting by my bed.

"Huh?" I was still processing everything.

"You were yelling in your sleep. Was it a nightmare?" she questioned, rubbing my back soothingly.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that… I'm going to take a turn steering. I won't be able to sleep anymore tonight," I said. I got up and changed out of my sweaty shirt and into a dry one before climbing the ladder to the deck above.


	4. This is Berk?

This is Berk?

_*Heather's Point of View*_

My heart was breaking for my brother. Last night was the first time I had ever seen him so broken. I wanted to ask him if he wanted to talk about the nightmare he had, but every time I approached him he would hold his hand up as if to say "not right now."

It was two days before we reached Berk.

But it wasn't the Berk we knew. What was once a busy, colorful, and crowded hub for dragons, was not dark and empty.

"What happened?" I whispered, not expecting an answer.

Dagur and I docked at the abandoned fishing harbor. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on a blanket. I glanced back at Dagur. His jaw had dropped and he was staring at everything incredulously. He caught me looking at him and shut his mouth. He looked just as worried as I was.

"Where is everyone?" Dagur whispered.

We walked up to the center of town. The forge's fire had long since been put out. Everything had been packed up, only broken items left behind. Huts had started to fall apart. The majority of the shop signs were either hanging by one hook or had fallen to the ground completely. The dragon scales on the ground had started to get buried in a layer of dirt. Some windows were boarded up, while others had been left open in a hurry.

The only sound was a few creaking doors that hadn't been closed properly, and the wind blowing between the buildings. It was eerie, considering how crowded and noisy Berk had been the last time we had visited.

The dragon perches looked tall and foreboding when they were empty. Large torches that had lit the town at night appeared to have been put out days ago. Some fish that had been left in the dragons feeding troughs smelled terrible as it rotted. The center of town, which was usually full of carts, vikings, and dragons, was abandoned. The wind blew dirt and dust around the square and there were a few birds that were pecking at some fish and bread that had been dropped on the ground. Berk was a ghost town.

"Hiccup?!" I yelled.

"Brother?!" Dagur called out.

No response.

We trudged up to the Great Hall. When we pushed the massive doors open they creaked loudly.

"Okay, we need to look around and figure out what happened and where they went," I said decisively. Dagur nodded in agreement.

"I can go check the chief's office. You want to go check his house?" my brother asked.

I nodded and we agreed to meet back at the hall in an hour. Then we went our separate ways.

The walk to Hiccup's house was short. Walking up the front steps was strange, to say the least. I had never been here when there weren't about a hundred dragons in the yard, on the roof, and actually in the house. It was so deserted.

I cautiously walked inside, ready to grab my ax at any moment.

The inside of the house made me gasp. There were scorch marks everywhere like something had set it on fire. This wouldn't have concerned me all that much, considering how many dragons lived on the island, but there was also a hole in the roof and it looked like the entire roof and upper floor had been on fire.

I ran to Hiccup's desk and looked through any papers that were left. All that was left were a few invention sketches and a sketch of Astrid. I smiled as I looked at the drawing of my best friend. Hiccup had captured her eyes and smile perfectly.

After a few more minutes of looking around, I realized that I had to go meet up with Dagur. On my way out I stepped on something and I heard it crack. I looked down under my boot and saw a syringe with some nasty purple fluid in it. I tore a square of cloth off the sheet on Hiccup's bed and used it to pick up the syringe.

"Dagur!" I called out as I ran up to the Great Hall.

"Sister! Did you find anything?" he asked.

"I found this. Do you recognize it?" I questioned, holding the cloth out towards him.

Dagur carefully uncovered the syringe. "Oh, Thor!" he muttered.

"What? What is it?" I asked worriedly.

"Grimmel… The Night Fury slayer. He uses this serum to sedate dragons and makes them do his bidding. I met him briefly during my time as a dragon hunter, and he is the worst of the worst. He will stop at nothing to kill every Night Fury. He is the reason Toothless is the last one," Dagur explained quickly.

I groaned quietly. "They are in trouble," I whispered.

My brother nodded in agreement.

"It looks like they packed up and left town. We need to figure out which way they went," he said.

"Okay… well I know Hiccup likes riding towards the sun," I remembered vaguely.

"Ah that is true," Dagur agreed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the edge of the east side of the village.

"Good thinking, sister. Look at all these dragon prints. They definitely took off from here," Dagur said after kneeling down to examine the prints in the dirt.

"Perfect, now let's go find our friends. I hope they are okay," I muttered.

"I am praying to Thor that Grimmel didn't catch up to them," Dagur said as he started walking back to our ship.

I followed close behind him. I think he appreciated the short distraction, but once we got back on the ship, I knew he was spiral back down again.

* * *

I had been right. About ten minutes of sailing later Dagur was back at the bow of the ship, looking out over the ocean, crying quietly.

I wiped a few tears off my cheeks. Seeing my strong brother broken down so low was the hardest thing to bear. But I couldn't let it break me too. He needed me to be strong.

I tried to think of other things. I thought of Hiccup and said a quick prayer for their safety. I thought of my best (human) friend, Astrid. And I thought of Fishlegs. He and I had broken up around the time Dagur and Mala got married because of my new chiefly duties. I had been the one to initiate the breakup, which broke Fishlegs's heart. It broke mine too. I really did love him. But that was years ago. I am sure that by now he is probably with Ruffnut or some other lucky girl in the tribe. He wouldn't wait for me, I told him not to.

The prospect of seeing him again was both exhilarating and terrifying. But, as chief of the Berserker tribe, I would handle it professionally, as I did with everything else in my life.

The sun seemed to set quickly, the sky turning into different shades of pink and orange. After it was below the horizon, Dagur walked up to the helm.

"I'll take night watch," he said quietly.

"Dagur, you need to get some sleep," I suggested.

"No, no sleep. I can't," he said quickly.

I sighed. "If you say so," I responded. I stepped aside and let him take the wheel. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before going to our room below deck to get some much-needed rest.


	5. The Reason

The Reason

We sailed for what felt like forever.

"Do you think we went in the right direction?" I asked.

"I am sure we did, sister," Dagur muttered from his position at the wheel.

I sighed and looked at our maps. We had gone off the edge of our map. I had no idea where we were or where we were going.

"How are you holding up?" I asked my brother.

His face remained serious, which is unlike him. "I'm fine," he responded curtly.

"Dagur…"

"No, sister, I really don't want to talk about it," he said, pegging the wheel in place and turning towards the railing on the edge of the ship. He rested his hands on the railing and leaned on them, hanging his head.

"It would be good for you to talk about it," I suggested. I stepped up to the wheel and unpegged it so I could steer for a little bit.

Dagur sighed and remained silent. I decided not to press him further.

"I never go to tell them I love them," he whispered.

"Brother, they knew you loved them," I responded. I pegged the wheel and walked over to him. My hand went up to rest on his back.

"Did Mala? The last thing we did was fight. The last thing my kids saw of me was when I was yelling at their mother," he said sharply, tears in his eyes.

I quickly wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. It took him a few seconds, but he finally relaxed and hugged me back.

"Dagur, Mala knew you loved her more than anything. Ozzy and Marina did too," I said reassuringly.

Dagur sighed and hugged me tighter.

"I just wish I could have seen them. If only I hadn't left! Then I could have saved them!" he said, pulling away and hitting his fist against the railing.

"Or you would be dead too! I wouldn't be able to live if I lost you, brother! You are the only family I have left!" I said, raising my voice slightly.

Dagur glanced at me over his shoulder. "Well, maybe I would rather be dead than without them," he said.

My eyes widened. "Dagur, if you had been there, sure you might have been able to get them off, but the more likely result would be that you would have gotten killed by the lava too!" I yelled. My eyes started to burn.

"Heather…" he said.

"No! I don't ever want to hear you say you would rather be dead ever again! Don't you see how much that hurts me? If you were gone, I don't know what I would do! You are my brother and I love you! I can't imagine my life without you! So don't you ever say something like that ever again or I will kill you myself!" I yelled.

Dagur realized how much he had upset me and rush over to hug me. He wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I would never leave you on purpose, sister. I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I already lost both sets of parents, I can't lose you too," I told him.

"I know. You won't," he promised.

I sighed and stepped away. I sniffed and wiped my eyes.

Showing weakness like this was very unlike me, but it was just Dagur. With him, I didn't have to always be strong like I did with everyone else. I felt safe showing weakness with him. There had only been one other person I was comfortable enough with to show weakness…

"Sister, look!" Dagur said, pointing behind me.

I turned toward the bow of the ship. On the horizon was a tall island. There were ships ported around it.

"Is that...?"

Dagur nodded. "Look at the flags! It's Berk!" he said excitedly.

I smiled and ran to the helm, taking the wheel in my hands and steering us toward the island.

"That one-legged brother o' mine is going to have some explaining to do!" Dagur chuckled.

I giggled with him. But I noticed something I don't think Dagur did. There were no dragons. Not a single one.

* * *

*Dagur's Point of View*

Heather and I ported at Berk only a few hours later. There were many familiar faces waiting for us on the dock, plus a few new ones. Heather and I hadn't visited them in a few years.

I saw Snothat, Fishface, and those nutty twins. I also saw Hiccup and Astrid. They were holding hands and were standing very close together, which in all honesty, was normal Hiccstrid behavior.

But there were two new faces with them. One, a woman, was tall and had grey in her hair. She was slim and kind of lanky, much like Hiccup. Next to her was a tall, buff man. He had his brown hair pulled back and a strange blue tattoo on his chin.

I threw a rope down to tie off the ship and Hiccup caught the other end.

"Brother! It has been too long!" he called up.

"You got that right!" Heather said, stepping up from behind me.

"Heather! You're here too! This is great!" Hiccup said as he helped me straighten the gangplank. He held his hand out for my sister as she walked off the ship.

Hugs were exchanged all around, my arm staying across Hiccup's shoulders.

"So, welcome to New Berk!" Hiccup said enthusiastically.

"We were going to tell you, but without Terror mail, things have been a little slow," Astrid explained.

"That is why we are here. What happened to the dragons?" my sister asked.

"It's a long story. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight? You can stay at our place," Hiccup suggested, reaching out to take Astrid's hand.

"Woah! Our place?" I asked, looking back and forth between them.

Astrid giggled in a way that was very unlike her.

"Yeah, we got engaged the day the dragons left. We wanted to tell you guys but so far we have been incredibly busy with construction!" she said.

"Well, congratulations guys! I am so happy for both of you! When is the wedding?" Heather asked, stepping forward to hug Astrid again.

Astrid beamed from ear to ear and glanced over at Hiccup, who was also grinning. "It's in a couple of weeks," she replied.

"So soon?!" Heather exclaimed. Astrid laughed and nodded. Hiccup walked over and hugged her from behind, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. This made Astrid hit his arm playfully and blush. She didn't pull away from the hug, though.

Seeing Hiccup and Astrid so happy reminded me of Mala and I when we first got engaged. I chuckled to myself as I remembered how we couldn't keep our hands off each other. It was a bittersweet memory now.

"You okay, brother?" Hiccup asked, resting his hand on my shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, but you guys aren't the only ones that have explaining to do," I said quietly.

"Well, then why don't we go back to our house and we can get caught up there," Astrid suggested.

Heather and I nodded in agreement.

"Oh! Heather, Dagur, I would like you to meet my mother, Valka," Hiccup said, gesturing toward the tall woman with grey hair.

"Mother?!" Heather and I both exclaimed.

Hiccup chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll explain later," he said.

The woman, Valka stepped forward.

"I have heard a lot about both of you. The brave Berserkers who were great allies to my son and the Dragon Riders. I wish to thank you for all you did to help them," she said. She stepped forward and hugged us.

"Hiccup, I like her," I said happily. Everyone laughed and we started walking inland. I saw my sister glancing at Fishlegs, who was glancing at her. Ruffnut, who was basically hanging on his arm, seemed to be oblivious to the glances. When my sister saw Ruff, she quickly looked down and rubbed her right hand on her upper left arm, looking down at her feet. I stepped over to her and rested my arm across her shoulders, letting her know I was there for her. She sighed and looped her arm around my back.

We followed the newly engaged couple to their house.

* * *

*Heather's Point of View*

The house was just as I imagined it would be. Full of Hiccup's inventions and Astrid's battle axes and swords.

"So, after we defeated Grimmel, I realized it was time for the dragons to go. They were no longer safe with us. So, Toothless sent out his alpha signal and all the dragons followed him to the Hidden World," Hiccup finished. I could tell it was still a sore subject for him. It had only been a little over a week.

"Our dragons left too. It was hard," I said.

Hiccup nodded in agreement.

I glanced over at Dagur. "Uh oh," I thought to myself.

My brother's eyes had anger in them.

"Dagur? You okay, brother?" Hiccup asked.

Dagur slowly stood, his fists clenched.

"Dagur…" I warned, but I was too late.

Dagur raised his fist and punched Hiccup square in the jaw.

Hiccup fell back and held his face where he had been struck.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed.

"You are the reason! You let them go!" Dagur yelled, stepping towards Hiccup again. He punched once more. I jumped up and grabbed my brother's arms, restraining them behind his back.

Astrid had rushed over to her fiance, who was now holding his bleeding nose.

"Heather, what is he talking about?" Astrid asked as she helped Hiccup.

"Dagur! Stop it! They didn't know! The dragons had to go! Just like Hiccup said!" I yelled. Dagur was breathing heavily and was struggling against my iron grip.

"But he let them go! He is the reason the Eruptodon left!" he yelled.

"What? The Eruptodon left too? I never thought it would leave its natural habitat!" Hiccup responded.

"Well, it did," I told him.

"And because of you, Mala and my kids are dead!" Dagur roared. He broke free from my grasp and lunged at Hiccup again.

"Dagur!" Astrid and I both yelled. He and Hiccup wrestled on the floor of the house. Hiccup took a few more blows, but eventually got Dagur in a choke hold. Hiccup's legs were wrapped tightly around Dagur's chest and arms from behind him, keeping him from striking again.

"Dagur, listen to me, brother, I am so sorry. I didn't know the Eruptodon would leave. I had no idea! I thought it would stay. But what happened to your family is nobody's fault!" Hiccup yelled.

Dagur slowly started to calm down and even his breathing out.

"They are gone," he whispered. He hung his head.

Hiccup slowly loosened his grip, eventually helping Dagur up.

He hugged Dagur tightly. "I'm so sorry that happened," he whispered. By now all four of us were crying. Hiccup had been Ozzy and Marina's honorary uncle. He loved them just as much as I did. Losing them hurt so many people.

Astrid approached me and hugged me. I sighed and relaxed into her hug.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Of course. I am your best friend, just let me know when you need another hug," she chuckled sadly. I sniffed and nodded in response.

We all four sat down, each deep in their own thoughts. Everything had been explained and now all four of us were broken.

"Want me to show you where you'll be staying?" Astrid asked.

I nodded slowly. She gently grabbed my arm and led me upstairs. We stepped into a bedroom that was down the hall from what I assumed was the room she and Hiccup shared.

"We just finished this room," Astrid said, pulling a pillow and a blanket out of a drawer for me. I took them and thanked her before laying them out on the bed.

"Hey, Astrid?" I said before she left the room.

She turned around to look at me. "Yes?"

"So, um, are Fishlegs and Ruff, um, together?" I asked shyly.

Astrid sighed. "Well, technically, yes. But I don't think Fishlegs is very fond of her. Maybe having you here will make him realize that," she said. I nodded and turned away.

I heard the door shut behind her and I turned toward my bag. I pulled out my night clothes and quickly changed. It didn't take long for exhaustion to consume me.


	6. Once a Friend, Always a Friend

**Hello Readers,**

**I know I never write something like this before a chapter, but this time it needed to be done. I made a slight update to the previous chapter. I changed Hiccup and Astrid from being married to just being engaged. A very helpful reader reminded me that that goes against something I had said in How to Say Goodbye, (I had Heather and Dagur at the wedding in the previous story)**

**So I went back and fixed that! Now they are just engaged, not married. but everything else is the same! That is the only thing I updated.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**

* * *

Once a Friend, Always a Friend

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

After getting what little sleep I could, I decided I needed to apologize to Hiccup. It really wasn't his fault. And I almost broke his nose, so there is that too.

After getting dressed I walked downstairs to find Hiccup making some eggs for everyone for breakfast.

"Good morning," Hiccup said shortly.

"Good morning, brother," I responded.

Hiccup looked over at me when I called him "brother."

"I'm sorry. I was angry and wasn't thinking straight. And I'm sorry I almost broke your nose," I said, looking down at my feet.

Hiccup gave me that weird crooked smile of his. "No worries, brother. I understand. Plus, you made me realize I need to practice my hand to hand combat. I am a little rusty," he chuckled.

I laughed. "Well I would be more than happy to help you with that," I told him.

Hiccup smiled and put a plate of eggs down in front of me.

"But, Dagur, seriously, if you ever need to talk or let off steam, I am here for you," he said.

"Thanks, brother," I answered quietly.

He smiled and nodded.

"So, you do the cooking?" I asked.

"I cook so that Astrid won't," Hiccup said, glancing up the stairs to make sure his fiance hadn't heard him.

I laughed loudly. "So the lass can't cook? Too funny," I responded. Astrid may not be the best cook, but Hiccup certainly was. He somehow managed to make normal eggs taste amazing. I ate the entire plate full quickly.

"When do you and Heather have to return to Berserker Island?" Hiccup asked as he sat down next to me.

"Well, now that we have answers to our questions, I guess we will leave in a few days. Maybe visit around here, restock our ship, then head out," I said.

Hiccup nodded. "Well, we will all be sorry to see you go so soon," he said sadly.

"Well, Heather has a village to run, and I have to figure out what I am going to do now," I responded.

"Hey, wait a minute," Hiccup said. He had his "I have an idea" look on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"Why don't you stay here and be my right-hand man for a little while? I could really use the help while I work on the construction!" Hiccup suggested.

"Oh, I don't know, brother. I am going through stuff and Heather probably needs me to help her…" I said.

"Well, I know what it is like to lose somebody you truly care about. And you can talk about it with Heather if you are interested in staying," Hiccup said. He took another bite of breakfast.

"Talk to me about what?" Heather asked with a yawn. She stretched her arms as she walked down the stairs. She took a seat at the table and Hiccup gave her a plate of breakfast.

"I'm going to go wake up Astrid. Pray for me," Hiccup said, standing up to go upstairs.

I chuckled and watched him cautiously walk into their bedroom.

"Talk to me about what, Dagur?" Heather questioned.

"Oh, uh, Hiccup asked me to stay and be his second in command for a little while. So he could have some help with the construction and stuff," I explained slowly.

"Dagur, that's great!" Heather said excitedly.

"What? But you need me at home to help you," I said.

"Well, you see, I am a chieftess, not a chief, so I am better at handling things without help than you men are," she teased.

I chuckled and shook my head at her. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"One hundred percent sure! Dagur, I already have my trusted second in command at home. Hiccup needs one here and he asked you! You'll be great at it," she reassured me.

My face broke into a wide smile. Maybe this was a good idea after all. Working side by side with Hiccup sounded like it could be a lot of fun.

"Okay, well if you are sure, I think I'll say yes," I said. Heather smiled at me and continued eating her breakfast.

I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Astrid and Hiccup walking downstairs. The skin around Hiccup's lips was a little red. I chuckled, knowing exactly what they had been doing.

"Took you long enough. Did you guys enjoy the makeout session?" I teased.

Hiccup blushed slightly. "We didn't take that long…" he muttered.

"Good morning to you too," Astrid said. She sat down in the empty seat by Heather and they started chatting about something. I didn't pay any attention.

"Hiccup, I'll do it," I said decisively.

"You will?" Hiccup asked excitedly.

"Do what?" Astrid questioned, interrupting her conversation with Heather.

"Dagur is going to stay here and be my second in command!" Hiccup announced.

"Really? Oh, that's wonderful! That means I'll get to see you more often!" Astrid said happily, directing the last few words toward Heather.

"I think you will be a perfect fit here at Berk, brother," Hiccup said, holding his hand out to shake mine. I pushed the hand aside and hugged him. Hiccup laughed and hugged me back.

This would be the perfect fresh start for me. A new place to live, a new job, and old friends who really cared about me.

"So, Heather," Astrid said, "how long are you planning on staying?"

"What, you trying to kick me out?" Heather teased.

"No! I was just wondering if you'd be here for the wedding… It is in two weeks," Astrid explained.

"Oh, well, if you guys have a few men that could be spared to go run a message to Berserker Island, then I can stay until then," she said.

"Of course! Dagur and I can go get that set up for you right away," Hiccup said. He motioned for me to follow him. We left the house and headed to the temporary Great Hall.

* * *

_*Heather's Point of View*_

Astrid and I were spending some time together. It was nice to have a friend who wasn't a boy and wasn't my brother. Girl time was a very rare thing in my life.

We walked together through the center of town. Astrid was going around and gathering any tools that needed to be repaired or sharpened for the construction crews.

"So, what's it like being chief?" Astrid asked.

"I enjoy it. I mean, it is exhausting, but it can still be fun. And according to my people, I am doing a pretty good job at it," I responded. My basket of tools was getting close to being full. I noticed Astrid's basket was getting full too.

"Should we take these back to Gobber?" I asked, taking another hammer from a viking.

"No, we have one more stop," Astrid said.

We walked up to a hut that was being built. It looked really nice. All one floor, but it was long and had several rooms that were being built.

"Who is building this one?" I asked curiously.

"Fishlegs," Astrid answered. I couldn't see her face at the moment, but I knew she was smirking.

"Astrid…" I said quietly.

"H-heather?"

I turned around and saw Fishlegs standing behind me. He had gotten a little taller, which I didn't mind one bit. A long braided beard graced his chin and upper lip. The dragon scale vest he was wearing made him look bigger and more intimidating than he really was, but of course, he had always been a teddy bear to me. His eyes held nervousness behind them.

"Hi, Fishlegs," I answered. Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely saw Astrid sneak out the front door. She had obviously done this on purpose. I made a mental note to get back at her later.

"I-it has been a while," Fishlegs said, tapping his fingers together nervously.

I looked down at my boots. "Yeah, it has."

"So, uh, how have you been?" he asked.

"I have been good. I'm the chief now," I said with a smile.

"Really? Heather, that's amazing!" Fishlegs responded. Both of us were slowly getting less nervous. I was glad that we had had a strong friendship before we had started dating, maybe that would help us now.

"Yeah, it is. But what about you? How have you been?" I asked.

"Oh, well, Hiccup made me official records keeper and village historian! I am also a teacher to the majority of the children here on Berk," he said proudly.

"Fish, that's perfect for you!" I congratulated him.

"Thanks," he said, suddenly getting shy again.

"So, Astrid told me you and Ruffnut are together," I commented.

"Yeah, I guess. She is a bit on the demanding side, but we make it work," he chuckled.

"Well, I am happy for you," I responded. And I genuinely meant it.

"How about you? Any vikings caught your eye back on Berserker Island?" he asked.

I laughed and shook my head. "No, I guess I am just more of a loner," I responded sheepishly.

"Nah, you'll find somebody. Someday some handsome viking will catch your eye and sweep you off your feet," he said. He turned to pick up a hammer and a few nails.

"You were always hopelessly romantic," I teased.

"Was, am, and always will be!" he chuckled as he started hammering down a wall panel.

"That's true," I responded absentmindedly.

"So, how long are you in town for?" he asked.

I handed him another board for the wall. "Just until Hiccup and Astrid's wedding. Then I have to go back to being chief," I answered.

"Oh… Well, I am glad you are going to be here for the wedding," he said happily. He finished nailing the board up and turned to look at me. He hadn't realized how close I had been standing and nearly bumped into me. He chuckled nervously.

"Heh… Uh… Sorry, I just need to get that board behind you," he said.

I stepped out of the way for him. He picked the wood up and turned back towards me. We stood in silence for a few seconds.

"I should probably… You know, get back to work," he said, tapping his fingers on the board.

"Yeah, and I need to get back to Astrid. So…" I responded.

"It was good to see you, Heather," Fishlegs said sincerely.

I smiled up at him. "It was good to see you too, Fishlegs."

I turned and walked towards the door. I waved slightly as I stepped outside.

"Well? Did you two talk?" Astrid asked, rushing up to me.

"Yes…" I responded.

"And?"

"Remind me to kill you later," I told her.

"Oh, you would never," she said sarcastically.

I laughed. "Oh, that's what you think, friend," I teased.

We both laughed and headed back to the forge. But as we walked, I couldn't help but think of the conversation I had just had with Fishlegs.

"Calm down, Heather," I thought to myself, "he has a girlfriend, and you live on a different island! And you are chief!"

But I still couldn't help but wonder, "what if?"


	7. First Day and New Dress

First Day and New Dress

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

A few days passed and I was finally learning my way around the village. Hiccup and the gang had been doing a good job of introducing me to everyone. Some of the villagers remembered my name from my villainous days, but I made sure I quickly showed them that I had changed.

"Okay, Dagur, you have met everyone and pretty much won their approval. I am proud of you," Hiccup complimented.

"Aw thanks, brother," I responded.

"But there is one more person you have to meet, and she is going to be the hardest to impress," Hiccup warned.

"Oh, I got this! Bring it on! Who is she?" I asked, clapping my hands a few times to show how confident I was.

"She is Berk's current medicine woman. My mom is going to take over for her when she retires," Hiccup explained.

"Oh, okay. Name?" I questioned.

"Her name is Gothi. And don't be fooled by her appearance! She is a sharp little woman," Hiccup said.

"I am sure it is nothing I can't handle," I responded.

Hiccup took me to a small hut on the outskirts of the village. It was on the edge of a cliff.

"Gothi!" Hiccup yelled.

"Why'd you yell? We are literally two feet from the hut," I said, gesturing towards the structure in front of us.

"She can be a little hard of hearing at times," Hiccup explained.

I was going to ask more questions but got distracted by the door opening. Out walked the tiniest lady I had ever seen. She looked so frail. Her hair was all grey and she was covered in wrinkles. In her hands was a staff about twice her height. I assumed it was her walking stick.

"Gothi, this is Dagur. He is going to be my second in command," Hiccup said loudly.

"Hello, Gothi," I said politely.

The tiny woman just stared at me. She started quickly scribbling in the dirt with the bottom of her staff.

"Uh, what is she doing?" I asked Hiccup.

"That is how she talks. I can usually read it, but Gobber is the best translator," he said, his eyes never leaving the scribbles.

"Oh, yes Gothi, usually the chief's wife is second in command, but Astrid is head of defense. She has more than enough work on her plate… Yes, I know it breaks tradition… But we are on New Berk! Some things can change… Gothi! Be nice. He is very smart and capable of handling the job," Hiccup said. Gothi scribbled frantically on the dirt between each sentence he said. My eyes went back and forth between the two vikings. They were having a conversation, but only one of them was actually voicing their thoughts.

"Gothi, I want him to be my second in command. I promise you, he is up to the task," Hiccup said reassuringly. Gothi frowned and hit him on the head with the top of her staff.

"Ow! Gothi!" Hiccup exclaimed.

She raised her eyebrows and pointed to the dirt.

"He can do it. Plus, it is my decision. I am the chief here, not you!" Hiccup retorted. Gothi sighed and grumbled quietly before turning towards me. She eyed me up and down. I smiled nervously.

When she was done scrutinizing me she made a quick scribble in the dirt and went back into her hut.

"Yes! Thank you, Gothi!" Hiccup called after her.

"What did she say?" I asked expectantly.

"She said she will approve, but she still doesn't one hundred percent like you," He explained.

I looked down at the scribbles in the dirt. They were so random and all over the place. I have no idea how Hiccup could read them. But, hey, if he could read them, that meant I didn't have to!

I was glad she approved though. That meant that everyone in the town was mostly accepting of my being here. They didn't like that I am a Berserker, but I could show them that Berserkers could be responsible! We just had a bit of a reputation for going crazy all the time… which was actually true for some of my people, but I wasn't going to tell any Berkians that.

"So, what you are saying is that I just won over the hardest lady to impress in the whole tribe?" I asked.

"Oh, so we are being smug now are we?" Hiccup laughed. I laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"I'm not hearing an answer, brother…" I teased.

"Fine! Yes, you just got the approval of the hardest lady to impress in the whole tribe," Hiccup said.

"Yes, I did!" I said excitedly.

We both laughed. I sighed contentedly. This was the happiest I had felt since I had lost my family. But with Hiccup and the others, I could see myself being happy again someday. A few days ago I never thought I could be happy ever again for the rest of my life. Now, I wasn't so sure. Maybe I could be… one day.

* * *

_*Heather's Point of View*_

"Oh, Astrid, you are going to look so lovely in this dress," Valka commented, holding up the wedding gown we were working on.

"You are so sweet, Valka!" Astrid exclaimed. She walked up behind the chair her future mother-in-law was sitting in and wrapped her arms around her from behind. Valka smiled and gently patted Astrid's arm.

"Only a week away! Can you believe that?" I asked.

"I can't! Hiccup and I have been waiting for this for so long. I mean we have practically been married for years now," Astrid chuckled.

It was true. They were so close and did everything together. If somebody who didn't know them met them for the first time, they would probably think the couple had been married for years.

"Hopefully married in all ways but... one?" I teased.

Astrid's cheeks turned bright red. "Heather!" she yelled.

I laughed and Valka chuckled a bit.

"Okay, as much as I love to hear you ladies talk about my son like this," Valka said, her voice thick with sarcasm, "why don't we make some lunch?"

"Yes! Great idea, Valka, mother of my future husband!" Astrid agreed, looking back at me seriously when she said the last few words. I smirked and followed them into the kitchen.

We started cooking some fish for our lunch. We laughed and talked about a bunch of different things, mostly about the young engaged couple.

"Hey, guys, do you smell that?" I asked, sniffing the air.

"Smell what, dear?" Valka asked.

"Smells like something is burning," I said.

"I am not doing any of the cooking so it wasn't anything I did!" Astrid said quickly, holding her hands up.

"No, it's coming from the other room!" I said, jumping up.

We all three rushed to the living room and saw what was smoking.

"Oh no!" Valka exclaimed. The dress we had been working on had been set down too close to the hearth and was smoking.

I rushed forward and grabbed the dress. Astrid got some water and quickly doused the fire. We laid the dress out to examine the damage. The entire upper half was scorched and was still smoking a bit.

"It's ruined," Astrid said under her breath.

The three of us sat in silence for a few seconds. Then suddenly Valka jumped up and ran upstairs to her room down the hall.

"Valka? Valka, what is it?" Astrid asked. We followed the older viking upstairs. When we got to her room we saw her rummaging through an old chest.

"I found it when I was packing up to move to my new place… I was surprised Stoick had kept it after all these years," she chuckled.

"Found what?" I asked.

"Ah! Here it is!" Valka exclaimed excitedly. She turned around holding a bundle of white fabric.

"Valka, is that…?" Astrid breathed out, stepping forward to gently touch the fabric.

"Yes, it is. This was my wedding gown. I want you to wear it, Astrid," she said, handing the dress to the younger viking.

"Valka, I can't do that. This belongs to you!" Astrid said.

"Oh, hush. I won't wear it again! I want you to wear it when you marry my son," Valka replied.

"Astrid, she is right! Look at it! It's beautiful," I commented.

Astrid sighed and looked down at the dress in her hands. Suddenly she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her future mother-in-law.

"Thank you, Valka," she whispered.

Valka smiled and hugged Astrid in return.

"You're welcome, lass," she said.

"As sweet as this moment is…" I said quietly, "I really want to see you in the dress, Astrid!"

Valka nodded and clapped her hands once in anticipation. "I do too, dear! Let's see it!"

Astrid giggled and we all went to help her try on the dress.


	8. Best Men

Best Men

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

The day of the wedding came soon enough. Hiccup had asked both myself and Fishlegs to be his best men because we were both equally important to him. Of course Fish and I both gladly accepted the offer. Heather was to be Astrid's maid of honor.

The girls were all at the Haddock house getting ready, while all us men were in Hiccup's office in the back of the forge. It was still a work in progress, but there were walls and a roof and a desk, so all the necessities were there.

We were all dressed in some sort of white that matched Hiccup and Astrid. Hiccup had the flower crown on top of his head and his white tunic and leggings. They were trimmed in gold and actually looked pretty good on him. The fur cape that symbolized his position as chief was hanging down his back. It billowed behind him as he nervously paced back and forth.

"H, relax, all your pacing is stressing me out!" Snotlout complained from his perch on the desk.

"You know, I hate to agree with him, but he is right. Hiccup, you have nothing to be nervous about. You are the chief for Thor's sake!" Fishlegs agreed.

Tuff stepped forward and put his hands on Hiccup's shoulders. "Just remember all the marriage advice I have given you and you will survive!" he said dramatically.

"Survive?!" Hiccup asked, looking back at the rest of us.

I frowned and pushed Tuffnut away. Hiccup says the twins have a purpose, but I have yet to find one for them other than to be dramatic and annoying.

"Hiccup, why don't you listen to the only man in the room who has actually been married before," I said, putting my arm around his shoulder.

"Okay…" Hiccup said cautiously.

"The ceremony itself is not as scary as it seems. I was nervous too. I thought I'd say the wrong words or something, but it all ended up being fine. And, brother, Astrid loves you. She really does. And you love her. This is just you two declaring that you will both love each other for the rest of your lives, which is what you want, right?" I questioned.

Hiccup nodded. "More than anything. Gods, I love her so much," he answered.

"Then take a deep breath, and only focus on her," I suggested.

"Wow, Dagur, that was actually pretty good advice," Hiccup said.

"And you are surprised?" I asked, pushing his arm.

Hiccup inhaled deeply and slowly breathed out. "Okay, I'm ready," he said, standing up straighter.

The rest of us cheered and clapped our hands against Hiccup's back.

"It'll be great, Hiccup!" Fishlegs said, squealing excitedly.

"Yeah, at least now we won't have to see you guys practically eating each other. You'll have your own place to do that," Snotlout groaned.

"And then there is tonight…." I teased.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh Thor…" he muttered. I laughed and pushed him out of the office and outside to where the ceremony was going to be held.

"Don't be nervous about tonight, you'll figure it out," I teased.

Gothi was already at the statue of Stoick. Hiccup slowed his steps when he realized that the entire Hairy Hooligan tribe was surrounding the statue. "It's okay, chief. When you see your bride all the nerves will be blown away," I reassured him.

Tuffnut and Snotlout went to stand near the front. Their job was to make sure no vikings that had already had too much to drink got in the way. The day a chief got married was celebrated from sun-up to after sun-down. Some vikings took advantage of this and used it as an excuse to drink all day.

Fishlegs and I followed Hiccup down the center aisle between the crowds of vikings. We stopped when we got up to Gothi. Hiccup stepped to the right side and Fishlegs and I stood next to him.

"Here she comes!" the vikings started saying to each other. I looked up and saw Astrid walking with Valka and Heather. Ruffnut was in front of them and she went to stand with Snotlout and Tuffnut.

Valka had her arm linked with Astrid's and they were both smiling. I glanced over at Hiccup and chuckled quietly. He was noticeably staring. I don't even think he blinked. I remembered not being able to take my eyes of Mala on our wedding day.

Seeing Hiccup and Astrid smiling so joyfully at each other. They really did love each other.

The ceremony was beautiful. Fishlegs cried, Snotlout cried, the twins cried, I even think I caught Heather wiping away a tear. All of us had watched these two grow up and we had watched their relationship grow with them. I was incredibly proud of them for going through everything they have been through and coming out still together. They were always stronger together.

Just like Mala and I had been. I sighed quietly as the happy couple kissed. The entire village cheered. I am sure the cheers could be heard miles away.

* * *

When we finally got the newlyweds to let go of each other's faces, we all went to eat in the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was pretty much finished. It was bigger than the one on Old Berk, much more seating and a large kitchen area. Several yaks had been cooked for the feast. Barrels of mead were littered around the edges of the room. I inhaled the delicious aromas as I approached the table set specifically for Hiccup, Astrid, and the rest of us. The newlyweds sat in the middle with the girls sitting to the right of Astrid and the boys sitting to the left of Hiccup. The twins decided to occupy the ends of the table and had started using their spoons to launch some of the vegetables at each other. Fishlegs was attempting to have a conversation with Ruffnut, but when he came to the conclusion that she was preoccupied, he started a conversation with Heather. Snotlout, on the other hand, had vanished. I looked around for him and chuckled when I found him in the back corner of the room, flirting with a tall red-haired lass.

"Hiccup, who is that?" I asked, pointing to the not so secretive couple.

Hiccup laughed. "Oh, that's Willow. She and her family just came here. They said that their island was destroyed. Won't say the name of it though," he said.

"Wait, when was their island destroyed?" I asked hurriedly.

"I think they got here a few days before you and Heather," Hiccup explained. My eyes widened.

"Hiccup, could they be from Defender of the Wing?" I asked, my voice cracking a bit from the sudden realization.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Well, seeing as how I am about to be on my honeymoon, you can be the one to ask. Her parents' names are Ake and Alva Gunnulf. Ake has been working in the fields," Hiccup told me.

I nodded. I mentally put that near the top of my to-do list.

After several hours of drinking and dancing, Hiccup and Astrid announced their leave. Hiccup had secretly built a small hut in the woods as a surprise for Astrid. It was a place where they could be alone for a little while. He only told me and Valka about it before they left. He figured somebody should know where they would be, but he didn't want everyone to know so that nobody would go for an unexpected visit.

"Yeah, wouldn't want anyone to uh, walk in?" I teased.

Hiccup blushed and Valka laughed.

"Seriously though, brother," I said, changing my tone of voice, "you don't have to worry about a thing. I will handle everything. And if the need arises, I have Fishlegs, Gobber, and your mom to help me," I reassured him.

He smiled and thanked me, giving me a brotherly hug.

Astrid approached him from behind and slid her hand into his, kissing the back of his neck lovingly.

"Astrid…" Hiccup said quietly, his face turning an even brighter shade of red.

Astrid giggled. "I said bye to everyone, you ready to go?" she asked.

"You didn't say bye to me!" I protested.

"Oh, how could I be so rude?" she laughed. She stepped forward and hugged me.

"Nobody panic! We are right here. We have the royal steeds for the chief and chieftess!" Tuffnut announced as he and Ruff approached the group with two horses.

"Yeah, now they can go and have some alone time!" Ruffnut said, putting extra emphasis on the last two words. I shook my head at the twins. They were unbelievable.

Hiccup and Astrid just ignored the comment and mounted the horses. Astrid had to sit sideways in the saddle because of her dress. They smiled at everyone and waved as they rode off into the forest. Once they were gone it was strangely quiet in the village. I stood up on a rock so everyone could see me.

"Okay, everyone! Let's get back to our homes. We have a lot of construction work to do tomorrow!" I announced. Some of the vikings grumbled as they went home, but everyone listened.

Then Tuffnut and Snotlout muttered a quick "goodnight" before running off to do Thor knows what. Eret offered to escort Valka home to make sure she got there safely. Their friendship, though slightly unexpected, was a fantastic one. Valka often treated Eret like a second son.

I noticed Fishlegs was talking to my sister. Both of them had pink tinted cheeks as they talked. Ruffnut, of course, had to ruin the moment by going up to them and grabbing Fish's arm. She was oblivious to the conversation that had been taking place. A sigh escaped my lips as I watched my sister look down at her feet while Fishlegs was practically dragged away by his girlfriend.

"You okay, sis?" I asked, quietly stepping beside her.

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, I am fine…" she replied, stumbling over her words.

"I don't think they make a good match," I commented.

"What? No, it isn't like that, Dagur! I don't have a crush on…"

I looked at her with doubt out of the corner of my eye.

She groaned and threw her arms up in exasperation. "Fine! I still love him. But it doesn't matter because I am leaving first thing in the morning! I am the Berserker chief now," she said frustratedly.

I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. Suddenly she grabbed the neck of my shirt and twisted it so she could pull me down so her face was inches from my face, her eyes fierce and confident. "I am going back to the house, I am going to go to bed, and you are not going to mention this EVER again or I will hunt down a submaripper and I will throw you in its mouth! Got it?" she threatened.

"Yeah, of course, sister," I responded. I knew better than to disagree with her at the moment.

She released me and started taking quick sure steps toward the Haddock house. I quickened my pace to keep up with her.

"You know he still loves you too, right?" I asked cautiously when we stepped into the house.

She froze. I thought she was going to threaten me again, but instead, she slowly turned around and asked, "what?"

"I saw the way he looks at you, Heather. It is the same way I remember looking at Mala," I told her.

I saw the faintest hint of a smile cross my sister's lips.

"Okay, uh, I have to go to bed. I am going back home early tomorrow," she said softly. She turned away, but not before I saw the smile spread across her face.

"Goodnight, Heather," I called upstairs after her.

"Goodnight, brother," she yelled back down. I chuckled. Sibling love at its finest - yelling at each other across the house.

Tomorrow was going to be tough. It was my first day as the temporary chief, just until the newlyweds returned, and my sister was going home. I hadn't realized that I had walked to my room until I was standing in front of my bed. My clothes were quickly discarded and tossed on the back of a chair. A fresh night tunic fell over my head. I crawled into bed, even though I knew my sleep would still be plagued with dreams of my family.

* * *

**Hello Readers,**

**I know it has been a few days and I apologize. Life is crazy, but I always try to find time to write! Writing is definitely a stress reliever right now.**

**In the next week or so I am hoping to start a new story. Now, don't worry! It will not interfere with my updating Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker! This story is my top priority, way over the one I am hoping to start.**

**The new story is going to be called "The Cutout Scenes**" **and it will consist mainly of one-shots that are scenes I didn't expand on in my other stories. For example, the first chapter will be Nuffink asking Hiccup to help him write up a marriage contract and ask him for advice on how to propose to Ragnhild.**

**So this is where you guys come in! I want to know what scenes you either wanted to see more of from one of my already published stories, a scene that was mentioned between two scenes in one of my other stories, or a conversation or event you wished had happened in "How to Say Goodbye" or "Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker." For example, if you wanted to know if a conversation took place between Hiccup and Sylvia after she was captured at the end of "How to Say Goodbye," I could write that. Or if you wanted to see something from Snotlout and Willow's points of view, I could do that as well!**

**I want to know what you want to read! Leave a comment or send me a direct message and you might very well get to see some things that happened behind the scenes in the stories.**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	9. Going Home

Going Home

_*Heather's Point of View_*

The ship that Dagur and I had used to get to Berk was fully stocked for my trip back to Berserker Island. I was up before the sun. I walked into my brother's room and saw he had turned himself almost sideways on the bed. He was snoring loudly and his arms were slung out on the bed. "How on earth did Mala deal with this?" I wondered. He didn't leave much room, if any, for another person.

"Come on, sleepy head. You are going to see me off," I said.

"Just five more minutes…" he muttered, rolling over and almost falling off the bed.

I giggled and stepped closer, looking down at him right above his head.

He opened his eyes and jumped when he saw me. "Don't do that! You scared me," he groaned as he slowly sat up.

"It's the only way to wake you up," I reasoned.

He shook his head and laid back down, hugging a pillow.

"Dagur! Get up! I am leaving in less than an hour!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at him as hard as I could.

The pillow hit his back and he sighed as he slowly sat up again, stretching his arms out and popping his back.

"Fine! Don't you ever say that I don't do anything for you," he said, pointing his finger at me.

I laughed. "When have I ever said that?" I asked.

"You say it all the time. Now, get out so I can get dressed!" He said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Are you really going to get up and get dressed or are you trying to get rid of me so you can go back to sleep?" I asked suspiciously.

"I am going to get dressed! So unless you want to see your brother changing clothes, I suggest you get your butt out of here and shut the door behind you," he quipped back at me. He started taking his nightshirt off.

I rolled my eyes and turned away, making sure I shut the door behind me. Before going downstairs I pressed my ear to the door to make sure he was actually getting up. I heard the rustling of clothes and I was satisfied that he was listening to what I had told him to do.

As I walked downstairs I shook my head at my crazy brother. I was really going to miss him, but I knew that for right now, Berk was the better place for him.

"Dagur, I am going to the docks!" I yelled from the bottom of the stairs. He stumbled out of his room, buckling his belt as he walked.

"I'm coming! Geez, sister, why the hurry?" He asked as he took the steps three at a time.

"Because I haven't been on my island for almost a month. I am the chief, so I need to get back," I explained, holding the front door open. Dagur groggily stepped outside and shut the door behind us. We started walking to the docks.

Very few people were out at this early hour. Only a few merchants, who were stocking up their shops, and Gobber, who was getting the fire going in the forge.

Dagur and I walked in silence until we reached the ship. As we approached I saw a very familiar figure standing on the dock looking up at the ship that would take me home.

I stopped and stared.

"What is it?" Dagur asked.

"Is that Fishlegs?" I asked, my voice cracking a little bit.

Dagur chuckled. "Yeah, he told me he wanted to say goodbye," he said.

I hit his arm. "And you didn't think to tell me? Gods, brother," I responded with frustration.

"Just go talk to him! Please? I will load your bags up," he said.

I rolled my eyes and slowly walked over to Fishlegs.

"Hey," I said.

Fishlegs jumped and turned towards me. "Oh! Hello, Heather. You startled me," he said sheepishly.

"Sorry," I muttered.

We stood in silence for a minute. Neither of us sure of what to say.

"Heather?"

"Yeah?"

"I broke things off with Ruffnut," he said quietly.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Well, several reasons. One, we were kind of just together because everyone expected us to be together. Neither of us really felt anything for each other, at least not what you are supposed to feel in a romantic relationship," he explained.

"Well, I am glad you discovered all this sooner rather than later," I commented.

Fishlegs nodded in agreement. He suddenly looked very nervous. He lifted his hands to tap his fingers together, something he always did when he was anxious or nervous.

"And, um, another reason, is because both of us have eyes for other people…" Fishlegs said, barely above a whisper.

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yeah, right now Ruff is very interested in this new guy who came as a refugee from an oppressive island. He has started working as a bartender in the Great Hall," Fish explained.

"And you?" I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Well, um, there is this girl, er, woman…" he started. He looked up at me and I could see how nervous he was. He continued, "And she is the most amazing person I have ever met. But I haven't seen her in years, and I don't know how she feels about me…"

I smiled down at my feet. "Who is this amazing woman?" I asked, glancing up at him.

"You," he said softly.

I sighed in relief. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath until he said that.

He looked like he had just told the biggest secret ever. He started to apologize, but before he could, I quickly stepped forward, stood on my toes, and gently kissed him.

His eyes shut as soon as my lips were on his. I felt his hand move to my waist and he tilted his head to the side so he could deepen the kiss. My hand went from his arm, to his shoulder, to the back of his neck, and finally to tangle my fingers in his blond hair. When we finally broke apart I knew I had the biggest smile on my face. Fishlegs did too.

"Miss Heather! Your ship is ready!" a man called from the end of the gangplank. Dagur growled and shoved him in the water. "Let them have a moment!" he yelled at the poor viking. I chuckled and Fishlegs did too.

"I have to go," I whispered.

"I know… but I will write to you," Fishlegs said, a sad smile on his lips.

"And I'll write back," I promised.

He hugged me. I sighed and relaxed into his big strong arms. I had really missed this. I prayed to all the gods that he and I would work out this time, but only time would tell.

I slowly pulled away and started walking up the gangplank and onto my ship. I glanced back and saw Fishlegs smiling up at me. He waved and mouthed one last "goodbye" before I was at the wheel.

Dagur was there waiting for me. He had a goofy grin on his face.

"Do not," I warned.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything at all. Definitely not 'I told you so' or 'you guys are adorable.' Nope definitely not going to say that," He teased. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, get your ass off my ship, brother," I told him.

"Love you too!" he said, stepping forward to hug me.

"Write to me when you get home!" He called back as he jumped off the ship and onto the dock.

"I will," I promised. I hoisted the sails and let the wind take me out to see. I used that handy Nadder spike to peg the wheel in place so I could check my maps.

I looked back towards Berk one last time. I saw two figures waving at me from the docks. One big and blond, the other tall with a bright red mop of hair. I chuckled and waved back before turning to face the sea.

* * *

It took a little less than a week to get back to Berserker Island. I was so excited when I saw it taking shape on the horizon. That was my island; that was home! I was glad that the wind was on my side, it only took a few hours to get to port.

"Chieftess Heather has returned!" somebody yelled as I turned the wheel so the ship would stop at the docks.

A crowd of vikings formed around the gangplank as I lowered it. I started saying hello to everyone as I walked through the crowd, trying to find the person I have been waiting to see since I started the journey home. Then I saw her coming towards me and I smiled.

"Cilla!" I called out.

The brown-haired woman smiled and quickly made her way over to me. She was about an inch shorter than me, and she could fight just as good, if not better than I could. Cilla - my second in command.

Cilla rushed forward and hugged me. It was too loud to have a proper conversation, so she just grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the horses she had brought from the chief house. I quickly mounted the horse and Cilla and I sped off towards home.

When we arrived, a viking came to collect our horses.

"So? How has everything been? Is everything still intact? No major illnesses or attacks or anything?" I asked curiously.

Cilla chuckled nervously, which was very unlike her. She was definitely quieter than most vikings, but she had the confidence of a goddess.

"Cilla?" I asked worriedly.

"Well, a few days after you left, a woman showed up and demanded she be shown to where the chief lives," Cilla explained slowly.

I turned towards her, my eyebrows furrowed. "And? Who is she?" I asked.

"Heather, she claims to be your mom," Cilla said softly.

I laughed. "You're joking, right? My mom died a long time ago. I never even met the woman!" I said, the calm slowly leaving my voice.

"Well, she looks just like you…" Cilla responded.

I shook my head quickly. "No, my mother died. Whoever this woman is, she is not my mother. There is no possible way," I told her.

"Why don't you meet her first?" Cilla suggested.

I sighed and started walking into my house. "Fine! Where is she?"

I turned towards the stairs and stopped. Coming down the stairs was a woman about my height. She had long grey hair, with a few streaks of black. Her bright green eyes looked me over. She did look like me, but I didn't trust her one bit.

"Who are you?" I asked, reaching for my ax.

"I'm Brenna. I was your father's wife, and your mother," she responded. Her voice was sharp like a sword.

"No, my mother is dead," I responded through gritted teeth. I held my ax up towards her.

"Oh please, is that what Oswald told you? He always did like to avoid his problems…" she muttered. I looked at her questioningly.

"You didn't really believe him, did you? He got rid of me because apparently, I was a threat. He didn't like that I was as strong as him. I was powerful," she said smoothly, "so as soon as you were born and he had two potential heirs he got rid of me. Stranded me on an island like an old forgotten pair of boots."

I listened, but I didn't believe her. "My father would never have done something like that," I protested.

"Oh come on, Heather! You didn't even know him! You only know what you do because of Dagur. Speaking of, where is the little devil anyway?" she asked.

I growled in the back of my throat. "Don't ever insult my brother like that again! Get out of my house! As chief of the Berserkers, I am sending you away! If you aren't gone by morning you will be forcefully apprehended and shipped away," I warned her.

Brenna rolled her eyes. "Fine, if that is what you want. I just thought maybe you'd want a chance to talk to your mother, seeing how you've never had one," she said, turning to go get her things.

"I have had a mother. She loved me," I snapped.

"The adoptive one? Yes, I know about them. She was hardly a mother to you," Brenna said as she continued walking up the steps. When she was out of sight I yelled and threw my ax at the wall. It stuck in the wood.

"Cilla, get her out of here," I ordered.

"Do you think it's really her?" Cilla asked.

"It seems to be, but she has no reason to be here. I want her gone by morning," I told her. After I retrieved my ax I stormed to my room and shut the door hard.

"So much for a peaceful coming home day…" I muttered.


	10. Mother?

Mother?

I didn't sleep very well at all that night. Any sleep I did get was plagued by nightmares of this woman who called herself my mother. At about three hours past midnight, I sat up straight with an idea. I mentally beat myself up.

The diary!

"Why didn't I think of this earlier?" I muttered, jumping out of bed and rushing to the chest by my door. I tore through it, looking for the old leatherbound book. I sighed when I found it and held it up. The pages had yellowed and the ink had begun to fade, but it was all still legible.

I quickly flipped through the pages. It was so long that I had never even gotten a chance to look through all of it, but I vaguely remembered some sketches of people near the end. I flipped past the sketches of dragons, Vanaheim, and journal entries.

When I got to a sketch of myself as a baby I slowed down. The next drawing was of Dagur. He was probably about ten and he still had that wild look in his eyes and that goofy smile. I chuckled at the sight of him. He hadn't changed a bit. The next page had a sketch of little Dagur holding baby me. My father had managed to capture a look of awe and wonder in my brother's eyes as he held me. It was like he couldn't believe I was actually his sister. I smiled. I knew he loved me now, but it was nice to see that he loved me even way back then. My fingers flipped to the next page and I nearly dropped the diary. On the page was a beautiful sketch of the woman who was in my house. She appeared to be quite a few years younger in the drawing, but it was definitely her. At the bottom of the page my father had written, "My beautiful wife, mother of my children. It had to be done."

That was all the information I needed. So he had sent her away. But he obviously had a good reason and I wasn't about to let a dangerous woman come back to our tribe. No, she was going to leave whether she liked it or not.

I shut the book and held it against my chest. I wished my father was here. I even wished my brother was here. He would come up with some crazy unrealistic plan that involved blood and explosions and just overall Berserker craziness. I hummed in amusement and climbed back in bed, still clutching the diary.

I would make sure Brenna was gone first thing in the morning.

* * *

I don't think I have ever woken up and gotten ready for the day so fast. I am pretty sure I set a new record because I was up and out my door in less than ten minutes. And that is with putting my usual armor on!

But I wasn't about to let Brenna stay in my home any longer, much less stay in my village!

I rushed out of my room. As I passed Cilla's door I banged on it. "Get up Cilla!" I yelled as I continued downstairs. She slowly opened her door, still in her night clothes, her eyes still half shut. "Heather Berserker I am going to murder you! You know I need my sleep!" she yelled groggily.

"Love you too!" I called up as I grabbed an apple off the kitchen table. I took a bite and stood with my arms crossed over my chest. Brenna was the next one to appear.

"I hope you are all packed," I said sharply.

"You aren't going to make me leave," Brenna said matter of factly.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked, stunned.

"You aren't going to make me leave. I know you, Heather. You may be tough on the outside, but you have a kind heart on the inside. You would never send somebody away if they have no place else to go," she reasoned.

"Okay, first off, you do not know me at all! Second, I am not going to endanger my people by letting you stay!" I argued.

"Oh please, daughter, I have been here for almost a month. Don't you think that if I was going to hurt your people I would have by now?" she asked. She opened the icebox and retrieved two eggs.

"What do you think you are doing?" I asked.

"Making breakfast. Would you like some? Or are you just going to eat that apple?" she asked. She was acting as if she had lived here her whole life; as if she had known me all my life.

"I don't want anything from you," I said through gritted teeth.

"Just like your father, I never could get him to eat much breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, you know," she commented.

I shook my head. How the hell was she so casual about all this? I was basically threatening her and she was acting as if everything was normal.

"Get out of my house!" I yelled.

She sighed and glanced over at me. "Heather, you really should be nicer to your guests," she told me sharply.

"You are not a guest! You are not welcome! My father wrote in his diary that forcing you to leave 'had to be done' and if that doesn't prove that you are no good, I don't know what will!" I responded angrily.

"Your father never stopped to consider the other side of the story," she muttered.

"He probably didn't even have to," I said.

"Everybody deserves to have their side of the story heard. Any good chief knows that," she commented.

"So now you are insulting my father?" I asked.

"Heather…" she said, her voice in a warning tone.

I didn't listen.

"Bjorn!" I yelled. Bjorn, my ever faithful guard, rushed into the house.

"What is it, chief?" he asked, holding his sword at the ready.

"Get her out of here. Please?" I told him. He nodded and approached Brenna.

"You are going to regret this, daughter. All I want is a relationship with you and your brother!" she yelled back as Bjorn escorted her to the Berserker jail. She'd stay there until I had a ship ready for her.

I shook my head silently. I almost felt bad for her, but I didn't trust her. My father banished her for a good reason, and I wasn't going to let her stick around long enough for me to find out what that reason was.

"Why are you hellishly loud?" Cilla asked as she groggily trudged down the stairs. I smiled slightly and shook my head at her.

"Why are you so hard to wake up?" I asked in return.

She glared at me. "I hate that you are a morning person…" she muttered.

"You get so much more done if you are up early!" I responded.

"Oh? Name one thing you get done in the morning that I could not get done later in the day!" she challenged.

"Get your long lost mother sent to jail and start getting a ship prepared to take her away," I responded, crossing my arms over my chest in victory.

Cilla just blinked at me. "I could totally get that done after lunch."


	11. Newly Weds

Newly Weds

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

The week had gone by fairly painlessly. There were only three major mishaps, which according to Valka, is a major success for being chief for a week. I had also completed a project of my own that week. With some help from a few other Berkians, I had built myself a simple home. It was small, just the right size for one person. It did have an extra bedroom, though, in case Heather ever decided to come for a visit, even though I was sure she would stay with Fishlegs.

I was getting a bit antsy to see if Hiccup felt the same way when he got back.

The day they came back was quite an event in the village. Everyone went to town that day, hoping to see the newlyweds after they arrived. But Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Eret, Valka, Gobber, and myself all knew they wouldn't be going through town. Hiccup had told us they didn't want to be the center of attention right when they got back. Instead, they would be going to their house. So all of us inner circle vikings waited patiently at the house.

Gobber and Fishlegs had cleaned up the place for them, while Valka and Snotlout had carefully put away all their wedding presents. The twins had wanted to dig a boar pit, but I had given them a firm "no" and they decided to plant some flower bushes instead, which they didn't do without quite a bit of complaining. The bushes were Valka's suggestion. In addition to that, Eret had used his position as head fisherman to stock their icebox full. Hiccup and Astrid's home was all put together and waiting for them to get back.

"I thought they'd be back by now," Fishlegs said. He was sitting on the steps in front of the house.

"Give them time, Fishlegs, it is their honeymoon after all," Valka reminded him from her perch on the fence.

"Yeah they probably wanted to get one more round in, if ya know what I mean," Snotlout said suggestively.

"Snot, how could we not know what you meant by that?" Ruffnut complained.

I chuckled and turned to look down the path the young couple was supposedly taking.

"They'll be here," I said calmly.

"Aye, Dagur is right. They said they would be back today, so they will be back today. The laddie wouldn't leave us here to wonder," Gobber agreed with me. He lifted his good hand to gesture in agreement towards me.

"Unless…" Ruffnut started, turning to look at her brother.

"You are right, sister nut, unless something drastic has happened!" Tuffnut yelled dramatically.

He stepped in front of everybody. "I think it is time we honor the memory of our beloved Hiccup and Astrid. They were so young, taken far too soon from this world!" he sobbed without actually crying, falling to the ground and raising his hands to the sky.

"Why? I ask the gods, why?!" he yelled.

Ruffnut got down next to him and started joining him in his antics.

I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Why hath thou taken our chief and chieftess?! They still had so many beautiful children to make!" Ruffnut cried out.

"Or they could be right there," Eret said, pointing down the path.

We saw two horses approaching rapidly. I smiled when I saw that mop of auburn hair atop one of the riders.

I lifted my hand up to wave hello.

The twins, however, remained on the ground. "Oh, gods! It is their ghosts! Returning to haunt our little town until we have helped them solve all their unfinished business!" Tuffnut wailed.

"Oh, the horror!" Ruffnut yelled, looking up at the sky.

Hiccup and Astrid rode up to the front yard and stopped. Hiccup jumped down first then ran over to help Astrid down, not that she needed help, he was just being a gentleman.

"What are they going on about?" was the first thing out of the chief's mouth.

"Don't worry about it, but if they refer to you as ghosts for a few days, just ignore it," I suggested, approaching him to hug him.

Hiccup looked confused but shook his head as if to clear the twins from his mind. He smiled and hugged me.

"How'd you handle everything, brother?" he asked.

"Oh, just fine! Only three major mishaps!" I told him, leaving my arm across his shoulders.

He chuckled. "Well, that is probably better than I could have done," he laughed.

Astrid quickly stepped over to Valka and Gobber, while the other men approached me and Hiccup.

"So, how was it?" Snotlout asked.

"The trip was great! You guys should see this waterfall we found. Fishlegs, I am pretty sure we found a new plant species!" Hiccup responded. Fishlegs squealed in excitement and was about to ask questions when he was interrupted by Snotlout.

"Uh, no, that is not what I meant! I meant, how was IT?" He said, putting extra emphasis on "it."

Hiccup blushed and got all flustered.

I glared over at Snotlout. "Snot…" I warned.

Snotlout grinned guiltily and slowly backed out of my reach.

"Ignore him, H. Tell me about the plants!" Fishlegs said excitedly. Hiccup gladly obliged and began geeking out with the bigger viking.

I left and went over to say hi to Astrid.

She smiled when she saw me and held her arms out to hug me.

"Hey, 'strid!" I said, hugging her.

"Hey yourself! How was being chief for a week?" she asked.

"Only three major mishaps," I responded proudly.

"Wow! That's impressive!" she congratulated me.

Three may sound like a lot, but these are vikings we are talking about. They are at least ten times harder to keep alive than any other human being.

"How was your week, sister?" I asked.

She grinned "I am sister now?" she asked.

"Well, you are my brother's wife now, so I figured I would promote you," I said teasingly.

She laughed and shook her head at me. "Well, my week was fantastic. It was so nice to just get away from everything and everyone for a whole seven days. It was really nice to be able to get some alone time with Hiccup. We don't get that very often here," she said in answer to my previous question.

"Well I am glad you two got to do that," I responded. She smiled at me.

"I wish Heather could have stayed! Have you heard from her?" Astrid asked.

"No, but when you hear from her, you will be getting some juicy new information," I responded.

Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Tell me more!"

"Nope, promised her I wouldn't tell a soul," I responded, moving my fingers across my lips as if to lock them shut.

"Not fair!" she protested, shoving me slightly.

"You will know soon enough! I am sure Heather wrote a letter as soon as she got home," I reassured the golden-haired warrior.

She sighed. "I refuse to accept defeat," she told me, pointing her finger at me.

"Well, you'll just have to this time," I replied.

I was glad Hiccup approached before she could beat me up. He walked over, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek. She blushed slightly and leaned into him.

"This isn't over, Berserker," she said.

"Oh, I know," I responded.

We both laughed.

"Have you had a look inside yet, lass?" Gobber asked.

Astrid looked towards him, still entrapped in Hiccup's embrace.

"No, what did you guys do?" she asked nervously, as if we had destroyed the inside.

"Oh, don't worry, lass. It is good! We put everythin' away for ya and cleaned it up a bit," Gobber responded proudly.

The young couple smiled wide. "That's so sweet, guys! You didn't have to do that!" Hiccup thanked us.

"Don't worry about it, son. We wanted you both to have a great welcome home," Valka said.

"Uh, guys?" Snotlout said.

"What is it Snotface?" I asked.

"The twins are, uh, doing some kind of dance and chant now…" he said, nervously glancing back at them.

And sure enough, the twins were doing some strange dance that circled around chicken, who was sitting there as if nothing strange was happening.

"Hey, Ruff, Tuff!" Hiccup called out to be heard over their unusual song. Tuffnut gasped.

"He has spoken to us!" He exclaimed.

"What does thou wish for us to do, oh ghostly chief?" Ruffnut said, kneeling to the ground. Her brother followed in suit.

"I want you to knock this weird ghost nonsense off! Astrid and I are very much alive!" Hiccup ordered.

"Brother nut, it is worse than we thought!" Ruff said, turning towards her twin.

"I am afraid it is, sister nut. The ghosts are in denial of their own death!" he exclaimed.

Astrid rolled her eyes and marched over to them, raising her hand and punching Tuffnut's arm as hard as she could.

"Ow! Sister, I do not think they are ghosts anymore!" Tuffnut cried out.

"Way to kill all the fun, Astrid. I much preferred you as a ghost," Ruffnut said. She helped Tuffnut up and they turned on their heels, walking away towards their houses.

"Well… That was… Weird," Hiccup said slowly.

I nodded in agreement. The sun had begun to set on the horizon.

"Okay, well I am glad you two are back, but I have to head out and get some sleep. I will see you in the morning, brother," I said. I began walking away, waving behind me.

"By, Dagur. I'll meet you at the forge tomorrow morning," Hiccup responded.

On my way back to my place, which was fairly close to the Great Hall, I heard my name being called almost frantically. I turned to see who was calling me and saw Mulch running towards me, waving a piece of paper in the air.

"I have a letter for you, Dagur," he called out. I smiled and met him halfway.

"From Heather?" I asked excitedly.

"Aye, sir," he responded, handing the rolled up piece of paper to me. I took it and thanked him before turning to rush home.

I opened the letter as soon as I shut the door behind me.

My eyes went from word to word on the page.

"What?" I muttered, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Mom is back?"


	12. Seeing Mother Part 1

**Hello Readers!**

**Before we start this chapter, I think it is a good idea for you guys to know how I have guessed Heather and Dagur's ages. I always thought of Heather as being older than the rest, about two years older than Hiccup, which put her at 21 in Race to the Edge. Dagur, in my mind, was always about eight years older than Heather, making him almost thirty in the last season of Race to the Edge. (if y'all haven't noticed I also changed it so that Mala and Dagur got married a couple of years earlier than they did in the show so that it would fit my story a little better) Hiccup had mentioned that Dagur was a "mean kid" showing that they had played together as children, but because Dagur could be immature at times I always justified that maybe he played with younger children because maybe he was picked on by kids his own age. This reasoning makes Dagur about ten years older than Hiccup and the others. So in this story, Heather is 22-23 and Dagur is 30-31. This is just my thoughts on their ages, they are not canon. I just noticed we were never actually told exactly how old they are, so I did some figuring on my own. You guys are allowed to your own opinions, of course, these are just my thoughts on the matter.**

Seeing Mother Part 1

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

I didn't even go to bed. All I could think of was that horrible woman. She had been cruel to him. There was a reason Oswald had banished her! He growled in frustration. Now she was alone there with his sister, who probably didn't even remember her.

I slammed my fist on the table and grasped the letter in my other hand. I needed to talk to Hiccup.

It was already dark out and everyone was in their homes getting ready for bed when I ran through the town. My pace quickened the closer I got to the Haddock house.

"Hiccup!" I called out, banging on the door.

Astrid answered. She was wearing Hiccup's chief cloak to cover her night clothes.

"Where's Hiccup?" I asked.

"He will be right down. Dagur, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, holding the door open for me to walk in.

"Everything! Everything is wrong! I got a letter from Heather," I told her.

"Is she okay?" Astrid asked urgently.

"For now, but I am afraid she won't be for long," I responded.

Astrid rushed to the stairs. "Hiccup, you need to hurry up!" she yelled.

Hiccup groaned and walked down the stairs.

"Astrid, you know I can't just stop mid…" he paused when he saw our faces.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern filling his voice.

"It's Berserker island," I said, "my mother is there."

"What do you mean your mother is there? I thought she was dead!" Hiccup said incredulously.

"Yeah, well, you thought your mother was dead too, but look how that ended!" I replied.

Hiccup sighed, realizing I was right.

"Okay, is Heather in danger?" Astrid asked.

"There is a reason she was banished…" I muttered.

"Knowing the reason might be helpful," Hiccup told me.

I sighed and looked up at him. "It isn't good," I warned.

"We weren't expecting it to be,' Astrid said. She took Hiccup's hand and we all went to sit in the living area. She sat close to her husband, keeping their hands entwined. Seeing them made me wish Mala was still with me. She always knew what to do when stuff like this happened…

"We are listening," Hiccup said softly.

"Okay, so it all started when I was maybe four, which means about four years before Heather was born…"

_*26 years earlier*_

I fell back onto the dirt, tears filling my eyes as the other kids, all just a couple of years older than I was, surrounded me and laughed at me.

"Look at him! You gonna cry, wimp?" the biggest of them laughed. I shook my head quickly, wiping my hands across my face to get rid of the tears before they fell. I tried to stand up, but the biggest kid pushed me back down.

"You will never be chief. You are too much of a wimp to be chief, especially of the Berserkers!" he yelled, shouting a Berserker battle cry while he was at it. He and the others laughed and walked away, leaving me in the dirt.

I slowly got up and sniffed quietly. I made my way home, rubbing my arm where the mean kids had hit me.

"Mum?" I whispered as I walked into the house.

My mother looked up and rolled her eyes. "Again, Dagur? I told you to fight back, like a true Berserker!" she scolded me.

"I'm sorry, mum. I just don't want to hurt them like they are hurting me," I responded, my voice small.

"Dagur, you have to fight. It is what Berserkers do!" she told me sternly.

"But dad says"

"Never mind what dad says! You listen to me! Now, go clean up or you will get even less dinner than you are already going to be getting," she threatened.

I ran to my room as quickly as my little legs could and rushed to the wash basin in the corner of my room. I used a rag to wipe the dirt off my face and arms, wincing when the rag touched the sensitive spot on my arm. It would definitely bruise.

Soon I heard the front door open and loud footsteps filled the house. I smiled from ear to ear and ran out of my room.

"Daddy!" I shouted excitedly.

"Ho! There's my boy!" Oswald said happily, his voice filling the room. He was the only thing that made me feel safe when I was that young.

My father looked me over, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Why are your clothes covered in dirt? Did those kids pick on you again?" he asked.

I nodded silently. "I will fight them next time, I promise," I responded.

"What? Fight them? Nonsense! Fighting never solves anything. You must always strive to be as peaceful as you can be," he told me softly.

I smiled and hugged him. My eyes glanced over at my mother. She was frowning, which was definitely not a good thing…

We ate dinner together and I went to bed, perfectly happy again. My dad tucked me in with his big gentle hands.

_*20 years earlier*_

After years of my mom telling me revenge and fighting was the only way to live, hitting me whenever I disagreed. Because of the violence, I had come to believe it. At just eight years old, I hated my father. He was a coward. Any peacemaker was a coward. He was not a true Berserker.

There was one fateful week that changed everything. It started with the day I became a brother.

I sat outside of the house, my short legs dangling over the edge of the porch. I could hear my mum's screams from inside, shutting my eyes tight and covering my ears with each yell. Anything that put my mother through that much pain had to be bad. I didn't know what exactly was happening behind the closed doors, but I did know that my father had told me mum was getting me a new baby brother or sister.

So, naturally, I hated the baby because of how much pain my mother was in.

It felt like years before her screams stopped. My father stepped outside, smiling from ear to ear.

"You have a little sister, lad!" he said excitedly. I glared at him and pushed past him to see for myself. I marched into the room, ready to hate the baby with everything I had in my little eight-year-old body.

What I was not expecting was to see my mum actually smiling at the baby. After it had caused so much pain, how could she be happy with the baby? I always got slapped when I caused mum any kind of pain.

Then I stepped closer and saw the baby. My heart softened at the sight.

She had little tufts of dark hair and big green eyes. Her cries had turned into soft coos as she looked up at me.

How could I ever think I could hate this little baby? No, I would protect her with my life.

"Her name is Heather," mum said softly. I looked up at her.

"Heather…" I repeated quietly.

"Would you like to hold her, son?" my father asked, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged his hand off but nodded in response, climbing onto the large bed. Mum carefully placed baby Heather into my arms.

This strange feeling washed over me. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew that no matter what I needed to take care of this little baby. She was my sister, and I was her big brother.

"Hi," I whispered quietly, smiling when the little baby hummed at me.

That was one of the best days of my life.

The next few days, however, were a living hell. My mother was exhausted all the time, which meant more lectures and beatings.

My little body could only handle so much. Every night I went to bed covered in bruises. It was then that I decided I hated both of my parents. I also swore that if my mother ever hurt Heather the way she was hurting me, I would kill her.

One day I had gotten in her way at the wrong time. I cowered in the corner of the main room, a shower of slaps and punches hitting me from all angles. My mother was screaming at me. When I started crying, she only hit harder. I could feel blood dripping from my nose and my lips, bruises were already forming on my arms and I could feel them on my chest as well.

"Brenna!" I heard booming from the front door. Then something pulled her off me. I fell to the ground, breathing heavily and sobbing. The next thing I knew was darkness.

_*present*_

"The next day my mother was gone, and my baby sister was in the care of another Berserker woman. Heather was sent to her adoptive parents a few weeks later when my father couldn't care for her. That broke both his heart and mine. But there was not much we could do about it. He had chiefly duties and a son to take care of. He loved Heather, but she also wasn't going to be chief one day," I chuckled, "at least we didn't think she would be chief."

Hiccup and Astrid were silent.

"You never told us your mother was abusive to you," Astrid said softly.

I sighed and looked down. "Well, it isn't exactly something I like talking about. I still have a few scars from some of the more extreme beatings," I replied.

"Dagur, if that woman is on Berserker Island with Heather…" Hiccup didn't finish.

"I know," I answered. My throat felt tight.

"Well, we have to go help her," Astrid said decisively.

"Astrid, babe, we just got back…" Hiccup started to say.

His wife was quick to interrupt him. "No! Hiccup, I love you, but we can't get out of this one. Heather is our friend. She has helped us out of messes countless times. It is our turn to help her!" she said. She had an intense look of determination on her face. I knew no amount of protesting would persuade her to change her mind. From the look on Hiccup's face, he knew as well.

"Okay, we can get a team together tomorrow morning," he said.

Astrid hugged him.

"Thank you, brother," I said genuinely.

Hiccup smiled at me. "Astrid is right. Heather is our friend and she is my second in commands sister. There isn't even a choice here. We have to go. I am sure the others will come as well. Mom and Gobber can run things while we are gone," he said, almost like he was reassuring himself.

I bid them goodnight and made my way back to my house. There were probably only a few hours of night left, but I was going to need as much sleep as I could get.


	13. Seeing Mother part 2

Seeing Mother Part 2

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon when I finally woke up. I hadn't slept well, but at least it was a little rest. I can be a bit grouchy when I don't get any rest at all.

My job was to go with Fishlegs to the storehouse and get some provisions for our trip. It would have to be enough to get all eight of us to Berserker Island.

Yes, everyone had agreed to join us. Even Snotlout had said he would come.

"Anything for my former lover," he had said. We all had groaned in response.

"Hey, Dagur!" Fishlegs called out in greeting as he approached the storehouse around the same time I was.

"Hey, Fish," I responded. I unlocked the building and pushed the door open. Fishlegs led the yak and wagon we were going to use to the doors. He and I began loading the crates of food and barrels of freshwater.

"Heather is safe, right?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

I looked up to him and shrugged. "I am not sure. I would hope so, but Brenna is unpredictable. She would beat me when I was a child," I responded.

Fishlegs whimpered quietly. I knew he was worried about Heather, I was too, but we had a job to do.

"Fish, the sooner we get these loaded up, the sooner we can get to her," I reminded him. He nodded and started loading everything twice as fast as he had been. With Fishlegs's newfound speed we were able to get everything we needed loaded in record time.

"Did she ever talk about me? Back on Berserker Island, I mean…" Fishlegs asked shyly.

I smiled and nodded. "You would come up in conversation every now and then," I told him.

"Wait, really? What would she say?" the bigger viking asked enthusiastically.

"She would just talk about what a good friend you are to her. Every now and then it seemed like she missed you," I responded. Fishlegs sighed happily. I halted the yak when we got to the ship.

Snotlout and Eret were already there. They helped us load everything up. The twins were already on deck, checking the sails for any rips or anything else that needed fixing, which was surprisingly helpful for the twins. I don't think I have ever seen them do something actually useful. The only ones who weren't there yet were Hiccup and Astrid.

"Where do you think they are?" Eret asked. He reached up to tighten the tie in his hair.

"Not sure," I responded, lifting my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.

"Snotlout, you passed their house this morning, did you see them?" Eret asked.

"Hey, just because I live two houses down from them and he is my cousin, does not mean I know everything they do!" he retorted. He turned and saw Willow approaching to say goodbye.

"Oh hey, babe! Come to see me off?" he asked, walking towards her.

I shook my head. "How in the world did he land somebody like her?" I muttered. I didn't think it had been loud enough for others to hear, but apparently, Eret had heard me because he snorted and laughed.

"I wonder the same thing, mate!" he chuckled.

Suddenly a fish fell between us. We both looked up in confusion and saw a whole net of fish dropping down on us. We were lucky we jumped out of the way in time.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, looking up to see who had dropped the net.

"Loki'd!" both twins yelled at the same time.

Eret growled and jumped, scaling the side of the ship like an animal. It was actually pretty impressive, but unfortunate for the twins, who yelled and ran to get away from the viking.

"What did they do this time?"

My mouth formed a smile and I turned around to see Hiccup and Astrid.

"Oh, I found them!" Snotlout yelled before going back to his conversation with Willow

"They tried to drop a net full of fish on me and Eret," I responded.

"Sometimes even I am surprised by the stupidity of their pranks," Astrid muttered.

"Is everything ready?" Hiccup asked. He knelt down to start loosening the ropes that held the ship in place.

"Yes sir, chief," I responded.

Hiccup chuckled and threw the ropes toward the ship so that Eret could pull them up.

"Then let's go," he said. We all ran to the gangplank and took quick steps up it as the ship started to float further from the dock.

"Snotlout get your ass over here!" Astrid yelled.

Snotlout jumped in surprise when he saw the ship moving. He gave Willow a quick kiss then ran and jumped to grab a rope. We pulled him up while he grumbled and complained.

"Sorry, Snot. Thought you were already up here," Hiccup said, clapping his back. Snotlout ignored him and ran to the back of the boat. He waved to Willow.

"Goodbye, beautiful!" he yelled.

I shook my head but smiled just the same. It was fun to see all these guys finding love.

But I could think about that later. Right now, we were on a mission.

"All right, guys, let's go to Berserker Island!" I yelled excitedly, definitely showing my Berserker colors.

* * *

_*Heather's Point of View*_

Brenna had been taken to the Berserker jail and she was going to stay there until we got a ship to take her away. I sent a letter to my brother almost five days ago. If he was coming, he would be here any day.

Maybe he remembered something about her that would tell me why my father sent her away.

But for now, I didn't trust the woman. Not one bit.

She was allowed two hours a day to roam the town, as long as she was escorted by guards. I watched her with the people. They loved her. She was always so kind and caring to each one. She knew most of their names and would ask about their children or their jobs. Some of the older vikings that remembered a time before she was banished were ecstatic to see her back. None of it made any sense. If they knew she had been exiled, why were they welcoming her back with open arms?

One day I decided to approach one of the older vikings. He had always been kind to me and I knew he would tell me the truth. His name was Dorin Turgis, but everyone called him Old Hook. He had been the best fisherman we ever had. One day he was walking behind some friends who were casting their lines and a hook caught him right in his left ear. Of course, the viking wanted to keep the hook in his ear as an interesting battle scar. So, once our medicine woman made sure it wouldn't get infected, he was allowed to keep it.

I approached the man. He was sitting at a table playing Maces and Talons with another man about his age.

"Ha! I got your Dragon!" Old Hook's opponent exclaimed.

"Ah, yes you did, my friend. However, you just left your battle commander wide open!" Hook said, moving two of his hunters to capture his opponent's piece.

"Aye! Damn it, Hook! You are going to win now," he complained.

"Not necessarily. You still have more of your hunters left than I do. And the traitor and both of our chiefs are still in play," Hook reassured him.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, sorry to interrupt you two," I said.

Old Hook smiled at me. "You are always welcome to interrupt us, lassie! What can we do for you?" he asked.

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you, Hook," I said. His opponent took the hint, promising to finish the game later.

"Take a seat, Miss Heather. What brings you to talk to Old Hooky on this fine afternoon?" he asked.

"Well, Hook, I was hoping you could tell me some things about my mother. Why is everyone so welcoming of her? Do they not know that she was sent away by my father?" I asked.

Hook took in a deep breath thoughtfully. "Well, many of the younger vikings don't know the reason behind her exile. But many of the ones my age, who know she was sent away, often think your father did the wrong thing. Miss Brenna was always kind to us villagers. Many of us didn't believe the things your father accused her of, but I believed him. I saw the bruises and scars on your brother. I knew she was the one behind the pain," he said, his voice soft and sad.

"Wait, that's why she was exiled? Because she beat my brother?" I questioned, rage filling my voice.

"Calm down, sweet one. She did bring harm to your brother, but it was years ago, there is nothing you can do about it now," he said.

I stood up forcefully. "We'll see about that," I said, turning to go to the jail.

"Chief! Chief! There is a ship in our waters!" one of my men yelled, running towards me.

"What colors do they fly?" I asked hopefully.

"It is the Berkian crest," he informed me.

I smiled, my anger at Brenna momentarily forgotten. My brother was here!

I thanked Old Hook and took off as fast as I could towards the docks.

Dagur and the others had just disembarked the ship when I ran up. I didn't stop running and tackled my brother. He laughed and hugged me.

"Geez, sis! It has only been a little over a week!" he laughed.

"Shut up," I told him, still hugging him.

He hugged me tighter. "I missed you too," he said.

I laughed and stood up, holding my hand out to help him up. I noticed that he had brought the entire gang with him.

"Hiccup! Not that I am not glad to see you, but who is running Berk?" I asked, stepping forward to give him a hug.

He chuckled. "Mom and Gobber are handling everything. We came to help you with your mother," he replied.

"Brenna," I corrected him.

"Right, Brenna," he said.

Astrid stepped forward. "Did you miss me?" she teased.

"Of course I missed you! You're my best friend!" I laughed, hugging her tightly. I greeted Snotlout, Eret, and Ruff and Tuff. Then I saw Fishlegs. He looked nervous and a little awkward.

I smiled at him and he returned it. I silently approached him, feeling everybody's eyes on us.

"Hi," he said sheepishly, tapping his fingers together like he did whenever he was nervous.

"Hi," I replied.

Then suddenly I was in his arms and some of the others cheered or made wolf whistles. I wasn't going to kiss him in front of everyone, but I was definitely looking forward to some time alone with him later.

I laughed as I hugged my boyfriend. Is that what we were? We hadn't discussed it yet. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea though. I made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

My hand slid into Fishlegs's hand and I pulled him to the front of the group with me. I led everyone back to my house. Being the chief's house, it was rather large. It had a few extra bedrooms, but only enough for Dagur, Fishlegs, and Hiccup and Astrid. There was another house nearby that we used especially for guests where Snotlout, Eret, and the twins could stay.

By midday, everyone was settled in. We all met in the living area of my house.

"Okay, so tell us about your mo… I mean Brenna," Hiccup said.

"Well, she just showed up here a few days after I left. She is winning the people over, but I am not sure why. I only just found out today why she was banished," I responded, glancing over at my brother at the last part. He looked down at his feet. I decided to talk to him about it tonight.

"We can usually sniff out a liar. Would we be able to meet her?" Astrid asked, speaking for the entire group.

"If you wish to," I responded, "we can leave now."

Everyone nodded and stood up. I grabbed Fishlegs's hand again and took them all to the jail cell. I noticed my brother looked rather nervous.

"It will be okay," I whispered to him.

He nodded silently, his eyes widening as we got closer to the jail.

* * *

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

I was nervous. I hadn't seen this woman in twenty years. It was nerve-racking.

The closer we got to the jail, the faster my heart rate became. I jumped slightly when I felt a hand on my shoulder, relaxing only when I saw it was Hiccup.

"You okay, brother?" he whispered.

I nodded without saying a word.

The door to the jailhouse creaked loudly, in desperate need of oil.

Heather whispered something to the guards and they stepped outside. The cell bars were in front of us. We all filed in, standing in front of the bars.

"Brenna, you have visitors," one of the guards said before leaving us.

I heard the rustling of clothes and the soft sound of feet on the cold stone flooring. Then she stepped into the light. Her hair had greyed and her skin had a few wrinkles, but it was definitely the same woman. My breath caught in my throat when her eyes met mine. I wanted to run, to hide, but I was frozen in place.

"Heather, you brought my son to me," the woman said, reaching her hand between the bars to cup my face. Heather hit her wrist with the flat of her ax.

"Keep your hands behind the bars," she growled.

"Oh!" Brenna pulled her hand back and slowly rubbed where she had been hit.

"That wasn't very kind, daughter," Brenna hissed.

I glanced at the others. Eret, Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs all looked fearless. Snotlout looked scared, but he hid it well. The twins were whispered to each other about gods know what.

"Dagur, darling, how could you let her treat me like this? Come now, let me free. You are chief after all," she said.

"No, Heather is chief. And even if I was chief, I wouldn't let you go, not in a million years. Not after what you did to me!" I said through gritted teeth.

Brenna sighed. "Well, you should be the chief. You are the rightful chief, being the firstborn son of Oswald," she said.

"I have found my place elsewhere," I responded.

"Oh? With the Hooligans? Yes, that's quite a place, son," she said.

I heard my friends growl quietly in the backs of their throats.

"Do not insult my home," I commanded sharply.

"Your home? My gods, Dagur! Berserker Island is your home! Not Berk," she exclaimed.

"You don't know anything," I said. I turned to leave.

"That's right. Run away from the fight. Just like your father," she yelled after me.

I stopped midstep, slowly turning around to face her.

"That is the greatest compliment you could ever give me. My father was a far better man than I ever could hope to be," I said quietly.

I couldn't handle much more so I quietly walked out of the jailhouse and returned home.

* * *

**Hello readers,**

**This is the longest chapter I have ever written for any of my stories! But this is fitting because there will not be a new chapter until next week. I am going out of town this weekend and will not have access to my computer. Not to worry! I will have a new chapter ready for you all by Sunday evening! **

**Please leave reviews! I love hearing what you have to say.**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	14. Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses

_*Heather's Point of View*_

After talking to Brenna, Dagur just left. I was surprised. It wasn't like him to leave when faced with a challenge. He usually embraced a challenge.

"Dagur," I said, going to follow him, but something stopped me. I looked back to see Fishlegs's hand on my shoulder.

"I think he needs some time," he whispered.

I nodded in agreement. Fishlegs was right. This had to be insanely difficult for Dagur. He needed some time to process things and probably punch a tree or two. He often did that when he was frustrated or confused or when life was just difficult.

I faced the rest of my friends. None were smiling. They looked back at me with solemn faces.

"Let's take what is left of the day to rest. I am sure you are all tired from your journey. If you need any food or anything from town, tell the merchants I said I would cover the costs," I said.

With that, I left. I could hear Fishlegs following me.

I had never seen my brother like that. I had seen him keep a stiff upper lip when Shattermaster and Sleuther left. I had seen him completely broken when he lost Mala, Ozzy, and Marina. And today I had seen something different. I couldn't name it. It wasn't brokenness or sadness… Then I realized what it was. It was guilt.

I stopped in my tracks when I thought of this. He felt guilty for our mother's circumstances. He shouldn't. She was the one who abused him. She brought this on herself. But, that might be why he felt guilty. She abused him, but not just physically. She mentally abused him too. That woman made him believe that he deserved it every time she hit him. That's what abusive people do, they make the victim believe it is their fault.

"Are you okay?" Fishlegs asked.

"He blames himself," I muttered.

"What?"

"My brother blames himself for Brenna's circumstances. Because that's what abusive people do. They put the blame on the victims. They make the victims believe they are at fault. That they deserve everything they got," I said a little louder. I started pacing back and forth.

"How do I help him? I don't know what to do," I muttered.

"Well, first, you can take a deep breath. Freaking out like this won't help him," Fishlegs reminded me gently. I stopped pacing and stood in front of him. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"There you go, that's better. Now, Dagur will come to you when he is ready to talk," he told me. He rested his hands on my shoulders and continued, "Dagur is strong. Strong people know that most of their strength comes from the people around them, their family. He will come to you when he is ready."

I stepped forward and leaned into him. Fishlegs tightened his arms around me. I wanted to stay there forever. I always felt safe in his arms. Like everything would be okay. I had missed that.

"He'll be okay," Fishlegs said comfortingly. He gently rubbed my back.

After a minute or two, I stepped back, a slight blush on my cheeks for being so vulnerable. I wasn't usually like that.

"Sorry…" I muttered.

"Heather, you are my girlfriend. You don't have to apologize for needing comfort. Not with me," Fishlegs responded.

My eyes widened slightly. "Girlfriend?" I asked.

Fishlegs became flustered and started stammering. "Uh, I mean, if that's what you… I mean, do you want?"

I laughed and smiled at him. "Relax," I told him, "I am just teasing you. I consider you my boyfriend."

He sighed in relief. "Why would you do that to me?" he groaned, shaking his head.

I laughed again and kissed his cheek. "Because you are adorable when you get all flustered like that," I replied.

He blushed slightly when my lips came in contact with his cheek.

"Okay, I think I want to go home and just be lazy for an hour or so. Today has been taxing on my emotions," I sighed.

Fishlegs smiled at me. "Can I join you?" he asked. I nodded silently and laced my fingers with his.

We walked back to my house hand in hand.

* * *

When we arrived home, I noticed a note on the table.

"Hiccup, Eret, Snotlout, and I went to town to get food to make for dinner. We will be back in a few hours. The twins ran off somewhere. Something about a traditional Thorston ceremony and sock? You and Fishlegs be good," I read. I read all but that last line out loud. The note was from Astrid and I could just hear her teasing voice with that last part. I shook my head.

"So they are all doing stuff," Fishlegs summed up.

"What do you think the twins are doing?" I asked.

"Only the gods know," he responded.

"Well, do I need to send some of my men out to find them before they destroy my village, or do you think they will be fine?" I questioned further.

"They haven't been too destructive as of late. They mostly just do strange Thorston family traditions and the like," he answered.

I nodded, feeling a little better about having the twins loose on my island. I love them, don't get me wrong, and they did actually provide some useful skills to the team, but they sure were a lot of work.

"Wait, so we are here alone?" Fishlegs asked. He reached for the note and read it. I giggled as his cheeks grew red when he looked over the last sentence.

"Oh my gosh, 'legs. Just relax. It was a joke," I laughed.

Fishlegs chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I know it was a joke…" he said quietly.

I stepped closer to him and stood on my toes to kiss him.

"Astrid said to be good," Fishlegs teased.

"Yeah, well, forget Astrid," I said, kissing him again.

His hands moved down to my waist and we stepped back to the couch, our lips never parting for a second. Fishlegs sat down and pulled me down with him so I was sitting on his lap. I deepened the kiss and moved my hands up to his shoulders. I felt his hands slowly start to venture below my waist.

"We're back!" we heard Hiccup's voice and jumped up. Astrid was the first through the door and saw us scrambling off the couch.

Her eyes widened and she backed up and shut the door.

"Uh, Hiccup, stall for a minute," I heard her whisper. Thank the gods for Astrid.

Fishlegs and I quickly composed ourselves and I went to open the door.

"Hey, guys! What did you get for dinner?" I asked casually.

Astrid smirked and shook her head at me. She pointed to her own shirt and moved the top up on her shoulder a little and then nodded towards me. I glanced at my shoulder and saw my tunic had slid a little to the side. I quickly fixed it before the others noticed.

The others stepped inside, mentioning things about some yak meat so I could make my famous yak chops.

Astrid was the last one inside.

"I said to be good," she said, pushing me playfully.

"Shut up," I muttered, pushing her back.

She laughed and walked to the kitchen.

I glanced over at Fishlegs and smiled.

"Has Dagur come back yet?" Hiccup asked.

I shook my head.

"Would it be okay if I go look for him?" he questioned again.

"You can if you want to. He doesn't usually talk until he is ready," I replied.

"Well, I'll just make sure he is okay," the young chief said before walking towards the door.

As soon as he had left, Astrid approached me.

"So, Hiccup is the only good cook among us, well except Fishlegs, and he just left…" she trailed off.

"Yes I will make dinner," I said, shaking my head at my friend.

I passed Fishlegs on my way to the kitchen.

"I didn't know you could cook, babe," I commented.

Fishlegs followed me. "I can cook a little. Want me to help?" he asked.

I nodded and told Snotlout and Eret to get out of the kitchen.

I hoped Hiccup would find my brother and bring him back home soon.


	15. Once Broken, Always Broken

Once Broken, Always Broken

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

I wasn't sure if anyone was following me. If they were, I would tell them to go away. I needed some time to myself.

I hadn't expected to ever see my mother again, so to say I was surprised would be a severe understatement.

When I was running, I didn't really know where I was going until I got there. When I finally stopped running, where I ended up made sense. I was in a clearing in the woods behind where our old house had been. There were two large boulders leaning against each other, creating a small covering between them. Every time my mother had beat me I would escape to that little hiding spot.

I got down on my knees and crawled into the little space. It was a lot tighter now, but I had obviously done a lot of growing up since the last time I was here. I cast my eyes to the walls that the boulders created. My younger self had drawn pictures on the walls with charcoal. I smiled when I saw one that I had drawn of me and my sister. It was just two little stick figures, one taller with short hair, one was a lot shorter with two braids. My finger gently brushed over where the figures' hands connected. Then I noticed another drawing on the other side of the wall. It was a drawing of myself. But I didn't have the smile most of my other drawings had. No, in this picture I was frowning. A taller figure, Brenna, had an angry expression on her face.

I guess the day I drew that one had been worse than the others. I hadn't even been able to think of anything happy to draw. I rested my hand over the drawing and cried silently.

"Why am I scared of her?" I whispered, wiping some of the tears away.

"She can't hurt me now. She can't hurt Heather. That woman is locked up," I said to myself, "And I am bigger than her now. If she hits me, it probably won't even hurt." And yet, I still felt a wave of fear every time I saw her.

"She broke me," I realized. Losing my family had been the most horrible pain I had ever gone through. I thought that had broken me. But really, I had been broken long before that. I just never knew until now. When I had met Mala, she had started putting the pieces of me back together. But when we had Ozzy, we spent more time with him and less time alone together. Then when Marina was born, my little princess, our time was split even more. Maybe that is why we started fighting. Mala couldn't handle all three of us the way we all needed her. And it wasn't her fault at all! It wasn't my fault either. Mala was the strongest woman I had ever met, but even strong people have their limits.

I cried. I cried about everything until I couldn't cry anymore. Then I felt eyes on me and looked up.

"Hey," Hiccup said quietly.

I sniffed and quickly wiped my eyes, turning my head away from him. "Hey, chief," I said, trying to hide the slight rasp in my voice.

"May I?" Hiccup asked, gesturing towards the opening in the hiding place. I nodded silently and moved over. Hiccup crawled in and sat next to me. He looked around at the drawings.

"Did you do these?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, when I was little. This is where I would go when my m… Brenna beat me," I said, sniffing again.

Hiccup's eyes glanced over each drawing, pausing on the one of me and Heather.

"Is that Heather?" he asked, smiling.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that was just before my dad sent my mom away and put Heather with her adoptive parents," I said.

Hiccup looked at the next one. The one with Brenna.

"That was a particularly hard day," I muttered.

Hiccup turned to me.

"Dagur, I don't know what you are going through. In the past month, you have lost everything and now Brenna is back. I wish I could relate and help you, but I can't. I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be sorry," I replied, "be glad your life is so great. Your mother came back and loves you. You have a beautiful wife who you are happy with. You have a great life, Haddock."

"Yeah, I do. But I want to help you too. You're one of my best friends. I hate to see you so upset," Hiccup muttered.

"I think this time around only time can heal me. I am broken, Hiccup. I can try to fit the pieces back together, but it will take a while," I said.

"Well, brother," Hiccup said, placing his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it encouragingly, "you have a whole bunch of people here who love you. We all want to help you put everything back together. We want to see you whole again. And all of us are in it for the long haul. However long you need, we will be there beside you every second."

I sniffed again and wiped my eyes on my sleeve. "Thanks, brother," I said quietly, my voice cracking.

Hiccup nodded and crawled out of the hiding place. "Heather is making yak chops for dinner if you want to join us," he said, bending over to peek inside the opening between the rocks.

"I'll be there soon," I promised.

Hiccup smiled at me one last time before walking away. His stump must have been sore because he was limping slightly. Astrid would definitely notice and make him sit the rest of the day.

I had some pretty amazing friends. I didn't feel as alone anymore. Sure I had a long way to go, but this was the first step. I crawled out of the hiding place, glancing back at my drawings one last time. When I stood up I paused before taking one step.

"One step towards being whole again," I told myself.

Soon more steps followed and I was home with my friends, eating my sister's delicious yak chops. The love from my friends and my sister surrounded me, making me feel like I wasn't broken, just for a few moments.

* * *

_*Heather's Point of View*_

My head whipped up when I heard Hiccup walk in the door.

"Did you find him?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah, I did," he responded evenly.

"And?" I questioned further.

"He'll be okay. He is just a bit overwhelmed by everything. I mean you guys do realize that in the past two months not only has he lost his wife and children, but he also had to face his abusive mother after twenty years?" Hiccup said, sitting down next to his wife and taking a plate of food.

I sighed. If I could lessen the load on my brother's shoulders, I would. I felt a hand envelope mine and my eyes darted to see who it was, even though I already knew. Fishlegs was smiling encouragingly. His eyes were telling me it would be okay. And I knew it would be.

"Chief Heather!"

I looked up towards the door. I sighed and got up, taking steps toward the door and opening it.

"What is it this time?" I asked the viking that had been yelling.

"No, it is serious this time, chief!" the Berserker said.

The tone in his voice told me he wasn't exaggerating.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Brenna," he said.

I heard the others muttering amongst themselves behind me as I stepped forward.

"What about her?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"She has escaped, Chief," he said nervously.

My hands clenched into fists and I stormed back up to my room to get my ax.

"Uh, Heather, dearest, are you okay?" I heard Fishlegs say behind me.

All I did was let out a Berserker roar and slam my fist on my desk.

"I'll take that as a no," Fishlegs said quietly, stepping back.

"I can't believe her! How the hell did she escape? I don't get it! What is she planning?" I yelled.

"Okay, dearest, take a deep breath for me. In through your nose, and out through your mouth," Fishlegs instructed calmly. He steadied me by resting his hands on my shoulders. I knew he was using one of those relaxation techniques on me, but I actually didn't mind as much as I usually do. I was thankful for him at that moment. My breathing slowed down and evened out after a few more instructions from the viking in front of me.

"We just need to figure out where she is," Fishlegs said.

I nodded in agreement.

"I'll send out search parties," I decided.

After racing down the stairs, I found the head of my army, Brock, and gave him orders to send out five search parties to thoroughly search each of the regions of the island for Brenna.


	16. Knapped

Knapped

_*Heather's Point of View*_

"Man, where are the dragons when you need some overhead view? Am I right?" Snotlout said, elbowing Hiccup's side.

"Snotlout… not funny," Astrid warned.

"Oh come on, princess, you know it was funny!" Snotlout retorted. He went back to looking through his extravagantly designed, and poorly crafted, telescope.

I shook my head and looked over at my brother as the others bickered. We loved seeing them all together like this. The Dragon Riders were a very entertaining group. It was a nice distraction after hours of searching for Brenna, with no sign of her whatsoever.

"Hey, babe? I think I found something!" Fishlegs called out. I raced over to him.

He pointed at two boot prints in the mud behind some bushes.

"Hers?" he asked.

"Maybe. Only one way to find out," I responded. I drew my ax and chopped the bushes out of the way, revealing several more footprints. The prints were smooth, like the boots that had made them had been worn for a very long time.

"Okay, just avoid stepping on the prints," I instructed, raising my hand and motioning for everyone to follow.

Other than the prints, there were no signs of anybody walking this path. Not twig was out of place, not a single branch was broken. If the person who made the prints was so stealthy with everything else, then they should know how to walk in the soft earth without leaving prints, or at least not prints this obvious.

A little word of doubt popped into the back of my mind, but I foolishly chose to ignore it and continued leading my friends.

It was nice to be the leader for once. Usually, when they were all together, Hiccup was the chief of the group. This time, however, he was letting me take the lead. Probably because this was my tribe, my land, and my lunatic mother.

That last item on the list was probably enough to make any visiting chief willingly comply to my leadership. Technically, since they were the visitors on the island, they would have to willingly comply anyway. But this gave them extra reasons to listen to me. Us vikings took any reason we could get to make other vikings listen to us. Vikings are definitely a stubborn lot.

We came to a clearing in the brush. The grass was high like it had never been touched. The sun sent beams of light down in patches through the trees, spotting the grass below. It was strangely peaceful. I hadn't felt peaceful since Windshear had left.

"I vote we take a break here," Snotlout announced, plopping down in the grass and leaning back. He rested his helmet over his eyes.

"We second and third the motion!" Tuffnut said for both him and his sister.

"Yeah! This is the perfect place for us to practice the ancient and beautiful art of karate," Ruffnut said, chopping the air with her hands.

"Practice what?" Astrid asked.

"Karate! Have you never heard of it?" Tuff asked.

We all shook our heads.

"Oh, we just heard somebody say something about it down at the trade ships," Ruffnut explained.

"It sounded cool!" Tuff said, joining her in chopping their hands through the air.

I shook my head and turned away from them.

"Okay, we can take a short break. Only for half an hour!" I told everyone. My feet were sore from walking so far. I leaned back against a tree on the edge of the small clearing and slid down it so that I was sitting with my back against it. Dagur approached me.

"This spot taken?" he asked, pointing to the patch of grass next to me.

I nodded my head toward the spot, a silent way of telling him he could sit there.

He smiled and lowered himself on the soft grass.

"This is nice. My feet and back were started to hurt," he sighed. He laid back, moving his arms to prop his head up.

"You sound like an old man, brother," I teased.

He grinned up at me. "Well, compared to you, I am an old man," he chuckled.

I shook my head and looked at our friends.

The twins were practicing whatever that was they were talking about. Karate was it?

Snotlout had actually fallen asleep and was snoring loudly.

Eret was climbing a tree. No idea why, but he was pretty good at it.

Hiccup and Fishlegs were geeking out over some kind of rock they had found. Something about using it to attempt to make Gronckle Iron? I wasn't sure how they could do that though, seeing how there were no more Gronkcles flying around.

Astrid had approached a nearby stream, just on the outer edge of the clearing. She was splashing her face with water to cool down.

I sighed and shut my eyes, relaxing every sore muscle I had. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up. My eyes glanced over at my brother, who was still beside me.

"How long was I out?" I asked, stretching my arms and turning to pop my back.

"Not too long, but long enough for the twins to get bored of their new fighting style," he said, gesturing towards the siblings. A laugh escaped my lips when I saw they were arguing over who was the better Thorston twin.

I did a headcount to make sure everyone was there.

"Dagur, I only count eight including us," I said with a frown.

"Did you check the trees for Eret?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Yes, but he is on the ground," I answered.

Dagur sat up and looked over our small group of friends.

"Eret, twins, Snothat, Fishface, Hic, you, me…" he whispered to himself.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Where is Astrid?" I asked.

"That is who is missing!" Dagur said.

"I'll ask H," I commented, taking meaningful steps towards the Hooligan chief.

"Are you ready to move out, Heather?" he asked.

"Yes, but where is Astrid?" I questioned back.

He frowned and glanced around the clearing.

"Astrid?" he called out.

When the others heard him they fell silent. There was no response.

"Astrid!" I called out louder than Hiccup had.

Still nothing.

My eyes swiftly moved to look at Hiccup. He had a worried look on his face.

"Don't worry. I bet she just had to relieve herself," I said reassuringly.

He nodded silently.

We waited a few minutes, walking the perimeter of the clearing.

"Okay, she has been gone too long. Something had to of happened," Hiccup said, the worry growing in his voice.

"The last thing we need to do is to panic. We will find her. Let's just look for any tracks," I said as calmly as I could, even though I was freaking out on the inside.

Fishlegs approached me and squeezed my shoulder encouragingly. I sighed and gave him a thankful smile.

Hiccup and my brother were the ones to find her tracks.

"Over here!" Dagur called out.

Hiccup was unnaturally silent.

"What is it?" I asked, pushing past the others.

"There are two sets of prints. Both from different boots," he said, pointing down at the numerous prints in the soft earth.

A gasp escaped my lips when I noticed there were scuff marks among the prints.

There had been a struggle.

Astrid didn't just wander off. No, she had been taken.

* * *

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

"Those scuff marks mean there was a struggle," Heather explained.

"How did we not see this or hear her?" Snotlout questioned aloud. He was worried too, a side to him I had never seen before.

"Never fear!" Ruff shouted.

"The twinvestigators are here!" Tuffnut accompanied her. They banged their helmets together and smiled at the rest of us.

"Oh, Thor…" Eret muttered.

"Guys, not now," Hiccup groaned.

"Do not worry, young Hiccup, we will find your beloved and return her to you!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

Ruffnut nodded enthusiastically.

"Or we could follow the prints?" I suggested.

Heather pointed at me. "Yes! Let's do that! Come on," she said, thankful for a legitimate reason not to have to endure the twinvestigators antics.

"You're welcome," I whispered as I passed her.

Hiccup had knelt down by the boot prints. "That way," he said decisively, pointing in a direction I did not like.

"Heather isn't that the way to the…" I couldn't finish.

"The mines," she finished for me.

"I didn't know you guys were a mining town!" Fishlegs commented.

"Because we aren't, or at least not anymore," I explained.

"The mines closed years ago after several deadly accidents. The older Berserker generations used dragons as tools to retrieve gold. So many dragons were starved or worked to death in those shafts…" Heather said.

It made me feel sick to think of how many dragons had lost their lives in those godforsaken mines.

"They were closed five years before I was born," I said.

The others were solemn. I knew they wouldn't like to hear about how the Berserker tribe had used dragons like that, but we were not the only tribe that had harmed dragons. All the viking tribes had. The whole dragons and humans at peace thing was a new concept.

But now the dragons were gone anyway.

"Do either of you know the mines?" Hiccup asked.

"I played in them when I was young. It was a foolish thing to do, I was almost hurt several times. But to a young boy that kind of thing is fun," I said.

"Then we will follow you, Dagur," Eret said, clapping his hand on my back and gently pushing me to the front of the group.

I sighed and started leading them to the mines.

* * *

**Hello!**

**I apologize for how long it has been. It is finals week for me! College finals are no fun. But after this week I am done! I will be posting as often as I used to after this week.**

**Just wanted to give you guys a brief life update so you would know where I went. Enjoy your reading!**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	17. The Mines

The Mines

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

My pace quickened so I could catch up with Hiccup. He had been following just a few steps behind Heather for the past hour. They were going at a relentless pace, the rest of us having to jog at times to keep up.

"Heather, sister!" I called out.

Heather stopped and turned around, looking at me expectantly.

"You think we could take a break? Just a quick one?" I asked.

"No! We have to get to Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed. It was the first thing he had said in a while.

The others were bent over, hands on their knees, working on catching their breath.

"Hiccup, if we continue, I think Snotlout will fall over dead," I commented, motioning towards the viking who had dropped to the ground, panting.

Hiccup growled quietly. "Fine," he muttered.

The young chief turned and walked over to a tree. He started using Astrid's ax, which she had left behind, to get his frustration out. He hit the tree with the blade over and over until the trunk had scars all over it. He sat down, exhausted.

"Go talk to him?" Heather asked.

I nodded. She went to check on the others while I cautiously approached Hiccup.

"She'll be okay," I said.

Hiccup's head jerked up at my voice. "I should never have let her out of my sight! If I hadn't been so distracted with Fishlegs…"

"It still would have happened. Sometimes things just happen and we can't do anything about it. Trust me, I know," I finished for him.

He shook his head. "She never leaves her ax behind," he muttered.

"H, brother, look at me," I said forcefully.

The younger viking slowly lifted his eyes up to look at me through his long messy hair.

"This is Astrid we are talking about,"' I reminded him, "If anyone can handle this, she can."

"You're right. But that doesn't mean I dislike this any less," Hiccup said quietly.

"None of us are enjoying this. We are all worried about her. And I know you are probably almost sick with worry because she is your wife and you love her, but would she want you to worry?" I asked.

Hiccup shook his head, a silent "no."

"No, she wouldn't. She would want us to make a plan and follow it. So right now the plan is to follow these tracks to the mines. Then when we get there we will make another plan. And if the need arises, another plan after that one. We will get her back, Hiccup. That one thing is certain," I told him.

Hiccup looked down at the ax handle in his hands. He had made that one for her as a wedding gift. I noticed he had carved images of a Deadly Nadder and a Night Fury into the wood.

"Okay, that's enough of a break. Let's go!" Heather announced.

I held my hand out to my friend and he took it, allowing me to help him up off the ground.

"Let's go get our brave shieldmaiden back!" I said enthusiastically.

Snotlout snorted. "Hardly a maiden anymore," he joked.

"Snotlout!" Fishlegs yelled, hitting him on the back of his head.

"Oh, come on, that one was funny!" Snotlout snapped, rubbing the back of his head.

I glanced over at Hiccup, fully expecting his face to be red, but his coloring was normal. Either he wasn't as embarrassed by jokes like that anymore, or he hadn't been paying attention. My bet is on the latter.

It was another hour of walking before we came to the mountain the mines were in.

We followed the tracks to a small mine shaft that was away from the others. I gasped when I realized what it was.

"Heather…" I muttered nervously.

Heather didn't respond, a frown upon her face.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

I couldn't respond yet.

"What is this mine?!" Hiccup questioned, raising his voice.

Heather snapped out of her stupor. "This is the Berserker Stone mine. It shut down years before the rest because of an accident with some Catastrophic Quakens. Ten dragons and twenty-five vikings lost their lives in there," she explained seriously.

Hiccup's eyes widened.

"What's a Berserker Stone?" Eret asked.

"It was our greatest trade item before we closed the mine. It was a beautiful gemstone, ocean blue and white in color and smooth to the touch. It could only be found on this island," I answered.

"Are there any left? Because I would like to have a few," Snotlout commented.

"There are none left. Nobody has been down that mine shaft in fifty years," Heather said nervously.

"That means the supports aren't as stable," Fishlegs observed. He approached the mouth of the mine and looked at some of the wooden beams holding it open.

"How did you guys fit Quakens in here?" he asked.

"We didn't. Gronckles were the only dragons that were short enough to fit in the mine. The Quakens sensed them and wanted to rescue them. They tried making an entrance of their own in the side of the mountain, causing a branch of the mine to collapse," I remembered. I hadn't been alive then, but my father had been a young man. It was his first tragic event as chief.

"Well, it looks like part of this has collapsed through the years. I don't think all of us could fit through," Hiccup said. He had lit a torch and was waving it in front of himself, two steps into the entrance.

"Okay, only half of us will go. The twins, Hiccup, and I will go in and see if we can find Astrid. If we see her we will send one of the twins out and Dagur and Eret can try to get in, but if you can't we will try to handle it on our own. Fishlegs and Snotlout will guard the entrance and are in charge of getting help if there is a cave-in," Heather instructed using what I called her chief voice.

Everyone but Fishlegs seemed to agree with that plan.

"No way!" he protested, "You are not going in there, Heather. It is too dangerous! I just got you back, I can't lose you again."

My sister sighed and hugged the distressed viking.

"I'll be fine. I'll be back," she whispered.

Fishlegs shook his head slightly. "Don't you dare die on me, Berserker," he muttered.

Heather smiled sadly. "Can't make any promises, but I will always do my best to come back to you," she told him. She stood on her toes and gently kissed her boyfriend.

Fishlegs obviously still had some hesitation, but everyone knows that once Heather sets her mind to something, there isn't really any changing it.

"Hiccup, bring Astrid back, okay?" Snotlout said. Underneath that cocky exterior, he truly cared for his friends.

"I will, Snotlout," Hiccup told him. The young chief nodded towards me. I knew what it meant. If something happened to him, Berk would be in my hands.

The twins crashed their helmeted heads together and let out a loud battle cry before following Hiccup and Heather into the mine shaft. My eyes remained on the mine until the darkness swallowed my friends and my sister.

* * *

**Hello Readers,**

**I appreciate your patience with me! Finding time to write has been difficult lately. **

**I hope you will all enjoy the next chapter, which will be posted tomorrow. It is the longest chapter I have ever written! Almost 3000 words! I usually break those up into two part chapters, but I felt doing that would mess up the flow. **

**Keep your eyes out for the new chapter tomorrow!**

**Sincerely, **

**EverAfterWritings**


	18. Blinded

Blinded

_*Heather's Point of View*_

The walls of the mine were wet and cold to the touch. The air smelled musty and was heavy in my lungs. Hiccup walked beside me, holding the torch in front of us. My ax was in my hands, ready to strike at any moment if the need arose. The twins were surprisingly quiet. I glanced back at them over my shoulder. They were close behind us, faces grim and serious. Tuff had his mace in his hands and Ruffnut held an ax in hers.

We had to climb over some rocks and squeeze through some narrow passages. We definitely did not have a quick escape on our backup plans list. There was no quick way in or out of this place.

"Hiccup, we got something!" Ruffnut said.

Hiccup and I quickly walked over to her to see what the twins had found. It was a scrap of red cloth, much like the cloth from Astrid's shirt. My hand moved to cover my mouth as the light fell over the piece of fabric. There was a darker red stained on the red fabric - blood.

"Is it hers?" I asked Hiccup.

He reached for the fabric and looked at it closely.

"It is," he responded, fear and anger in his voice.

"Great! We are going the right way!" Tuffnut said excitedly. His optimism always came out at random times and every time it surprised me.

The twins high fived and started walking ahead of us.

Hiccup slowly stood up.

"Hey, she'll be okay. It is Astrid we are talking about," I reminded him.

He just nodded silently.

I squeezed his shoulder encouragingly as we followed the twins.

Soon we came to a dead end.

"Seriously?!" Hiccup shouted.

The support beams shook and dust fell from the ceiling.

"Hiccup, not so loud," I said, my voice even and quiet.

"Sorry…" he muttered.

"It isn't a dead end! Haven't you guys ever heard of cave-ins?" Tuffnut said, shaking his head at Hiccup and me.

"Seriously, they know nothing," Ruffnut agreed with her brother.

"Guys, we know what cave-ins are, but that doesn't help us here," Hiccup said.

"It does if you look that way," Tuff said, pointing to the right.

An entryway could barely be made out behind the pile of rocks in front of it. A wooden sign rested on the rocks. The wording was in an old Berserker language.

"Heather, what does it say?" Hiccup asked.

I looked at it closely.

"Heather?" Hiccup questioned further.

"Hold your patience Berkian," I retorted.

Hiccup shut his mouth while the twins snickered.

"She sure told you," Ruff laughed.

"Okay, it says this cave-in was done on purpose. There are some ugly sights behind these rocks," I told them.

"What do you mean?" Tuffnut asked.

"This is where we lost the lives of those dragons and Berserkers. They couldn't clean out all the bodies so this is how they buried them," I responded solemnly.

Us Berserkers don't send ships off in the ocean as a funeral the way the Berkians do. Yes, we agree that that is a good way to lay a soul to rest, and I have paid my respects at more than one Berkian funeral, but most of the time we bury our dead with their most prized possessions, such as a favorite weapon and their mead mug. Maybe a shield or a family heirloom was buried with them as well.

"Guys, she is back there. I can feel it," Hiccup said, stepping forward to rest a hand on the wall of rocks before us.

"Then we get through," I said decisively.

I cautiously climbed to the top of the rock pile and started handing some of the boulders down to my friends. It was tedious, we almost caused another cave-in several times, but we finally were able to make an opening large enough for us to slide into.

Hiccup went through first, landing with a quiet "thud." He reached up to take the torch from me so that the twins and I could follow.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. The air was heavy, the smell of death everywhere. I pulled my tunic up over my nose and I noticed Hiccup and the twins had done the same. Hiccup waved the torch in front of him and we all gasped at the sight.

Human and dragon skeletons were scattered all across the ground. Some were leaning against the walls. There was one human skeleton that was leaning against the wall, its hand resting on the head of a dragon skeleton.

"Looks like some of them made amends. I guess they weren't all dead from the start," Hiccup commented, sorrow thick in his voice.

I hesitantly stepped forward to that skeleton and noticed marks on the wall behind it.

"He kept track of how many days he was down here. How is that possible with no sun?" I asked, turning to direct the question toward Hiccup.

"Well, his dragon friend probably knew what time it was. Some dragons live underground so the majority of them can tell when it is night or day without having to see the sun. These Gronckles probably adapted to have that same ability because of how long they spent in these mines," he explained.

"I was told that there were no survivors. Why didn't they try to save these people?" I asked, mostly to myself.

"If your father made the decision not to risk more vikings trying to save these people, he must have had a good reason," Hiccup reassured me.

All I could think of was that my boyfriend would not like this place. Seeing all these Gronckles, his favorite of all dragons, would greatly upset him. I was momentarily glad that he was outside in the sun.

But I didn't have long to think about this as a ball of fire flew over our heads.

"Get down!" I ordered, dropping to the ground. Hiccup followed with a strained grunt. Sometimes his prosthetic would jam up if he moved too quickly like this.

The twins shouted in alarm and Ruff tackled Tuff to the ground.

The fire hit the wall, right where our heads had been.

My eyes strained to see where the fire had come from in the darkness.

"I knew you'd find me, daughter. I just wish you hadn't brought your friends along," Brenna said, stepping into our torchlight. I immediately picked up my ax and was about to charge when she snapped her fingers and another ball of fire flew at us.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," she said, expectantly waiting for my response.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Where is Astrid?! Give me my wife back!" Hiccup demanded.

Brenna laughed. I hated her laugh. Not because it was an awful laugh that hurt one's ears, but because it was a beautiful laugh. It sang out like a bird song, clear and smooth.

"You really think I am going to give her back yet? No, I still need her. She is incredibly smart, very helpful," Brenna commented.

"Why did you take her?" I questioned, holding my ax up.

Brenna raised her hand, her fingers positioned to snap again. "I suggest you lower your weapon, daughter," she spat out.

I reluctantly lowered my ax once more. If it was just me in the mine, I would have attacked by now, but I had three others to think of.

"Tell us what you have done with our friend," I said, a warning in my voice.

"Your friend is alive. She is a feisty one," Brenna said, "She was a little hard to handle at first, but I took care of that."

I glanced over at Hiccup. His face was pale.

"W-what do you mean you took care of that?" he asked, his voice catching in his throat.

"I made it so that she has to rely on somebody. I gave her a weakness," Brenna said, laughing slightly.

My eyes fell to what was behind Brenna. The twins had snuck around and were positioning themselves to jump on her.

"S-so what exactly did you do to our friend?" I questioned angrily, making sure to keep Brenna distracted.

"I gave her a weakness she has struggled with before. I started by making her doubt herself. Then I had her work with Knight, so that is sure to weaken her sight," Brenna explained.

"Knight?" Hiccup asked.

"My dragon," Brenna commented casually.

My eyes widened and I looked over at Hiccup. Dragon? Toothless's call must have missed this one.

If Brenna had a dragon, we could be in trouble.

"What does that have to do with her sight?" I asked, tightening my grip on the handle of my ax.

Brenna's lips curled up into an evil smile. She whistled long and low and we heard loud footsteps approaching.

I looked at the twins. Now or never.

I gave them a curt nod and they started yelling Berkian war cries as they lunged toward Brenna, effectively tackling her to the ground.

"What the hell? Oh, you idiots!" Brenna yelled angrily as the twins sat on her.

"We aren't idiots," Ruffnut retorted.

"Yeah! If we are anything, it is half stupid muttonheads," Tuffnut said defensively. The footsteps got closer.

"Ruff, Tuff, tie her up!" I yelled, pulling a rope off my belt and throwing it to them.

They quickly tied her hands behind her back.

"Hey, all those years of boar tying really paid off!" Ruffnut said happily. She and her brother high fived and started teasing Brenna.

"Where is Astrid?" Hiccup asked, kneeling in front of the evil woman.

"She is with Knight," she hissed.

The footsteps got closer and the walls started shaking.

"Hiccup…" I said quietly.

He didn't hear me. He was still questioning Brenna.

Then a large dragon stepped into the light.

"Hiccup!" I yelled.

The twins looked up. "Armorwing!" they shouted.

This made Hiccup look up. "Oh gods. Don't look at the fire! It is blinding!" he warned.

The Armorwing had more armor on it than I had seen on an Armorwing before. There were no weak spots that I could see.

It's back was covered with swords that stood up like spikes and old breastplates and shields to cover the bare spots. Axes were welded onto its tail, giving it the ability to slice things open with just one swing. Daggers had been used all along its chest and legs. Anybody who came near it could easily be impaled by the sharp blades.

The dragon's eyes were a dark shade of yellow and seemed to glow in the darkness.

I heard Brenna's laugh as the dragon opened its jaws and a stream of blinding fire flew just over our heads and into the wall, causing the mine to rumble.

My mind raced through our options. It wouldn't be useful to go back for Dagur and Eret like the earlier plan. There was no way they could fit through the rock-filled branch of the shaft. Our only options were to get Brenna to call off her dragon, get through to Hiccup and have him work his magic on it, or kill it. The last thought made me feel sick, but deep down I knew that if it came to a choice between my friends' lives or the dragon's life, it wouldn't be much of a choice.

Another beam of fire shot past my ear, much too close for comfort.

Within seconds I had my ax in my hands and I was dodging the beams of fire, avoiding looking at the blinding light. My eyes scanned the dragon, desperately looking for any chinks in the armor. Finally, my eyes landed on a shield that appeared to not have been welded on completely. If we could get the shield off, the dragon would have an open patch of skin for us to attack if it came to that.

"Hiccup we need you to be doing something here!" I yelled, jumping out of the way of more fire, accidentally tackling Ruffnut while I was at it.

Hiccup stood and slowly approached the angry dragon, holding his hands out to show he had no weapons. The dragon paused momentarily before growling and baring its sharp teeth at Hiccup.

"Hey bud, I know you are probably scared. All your friends left and you are stuck in this mine with a creepy lady," he said calmly. His reflexes kicked in and he ducked as a ball of blinding fire flew over his head.

However, Hiccup stayed cool and collected. He continued to talk to the dragon in a soothing manner. "We can help you," he said, "I know where the dragons went. We can help you get there. You will be safe. And I happen to know the king."

Knight's growls softened, but only slightly.

My eyes widened and I held my breath as Hiccup finally made it right up to the dragon's face.

"Just trust me," Hiccup said calmly. He held his hand out, palm facing the dragon.

"Oh, he is doing the thing!" Tuffnut said excitedly.

Hiccup ignored the comment and turned his head away from the dragon.

I watched as the Armorwing's eyes dilated and he slowly moved his head forward to rest in Hiccup's palm.

Brenna screamed angrily, startling the dragon. Knight's eyes went back to narrow slits and he snapped at Hiccup's hand, barely missing it. The dragon then shot the ropes used to bind Brenna and raced over to her. Brenna climbed onto its back, expertly avoiding the blades, and the Armorwing spewed flames everywhere to keep us from following as they escaped back down the mine shaft.

"No, we have to get them! They have Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, starting to run towards the dark shaft.

"Hiccup, we have to go regroup with the others. We can't go after her right now," I told him firmly.

Tuffnut was helping his sister up.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

Ruffnut was inspecting a burn she had received on her shoulder. "Well, as Astrid says, it is only fun if you get a scar out of it," she chuckled.

I sighed, knowing they were okay.

"Hiccup?" we heard a weak voice from the shaft.

Hiccup pushed past me so hard that I would have fallen over if Tuff hadn't caught me.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, running towards the voice.

"Hiccup, wait!" I called out, but he was already in the darkness. I started to follow him when he came back into the light, Astrid in his arms.

A breath I hadn't realized I had been holding escaped my lips.

"Hiccup, who else is here?" Astrid asked.

I glanced up at Hiccup. "Uh, me and Heather and the twins," he responded.

"Do you guys not have a torch?" she asked.

"No, we have one. Heather is holding it," Hiccup said worriedly. He set her down, helping her balance on her feet.

Astrid's braid had come undone and was laying messily down her back and over her shoulders. A piece of her shirt had been torn off, what appeared to be a scrape from a rock on the skin that was exposed. But what really caught my attention was her eyes. The pupils were tiny dots in the center.

"Then why can't I see it?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Did you have to look at the Armorwing's fire?" I asked.

Her head turned toward my voice. "It was an Armorwing? I just saw the fire, the dragon was hidden in the darkness," she explained.

She started breathing heavily. "Hiccup, the fire. It was too bright. I didn't know not to look too closely at it! The hiccup I can't do this again!" she said, nearly crying.

I didn't try to hide how upset I was when the realization hit me. She was blind again. Hiccup pulled her against him, one arm around her waist, the other at her back and running his fingers through her hair.

I shifted my weight back and forth between my legs, unsure of what to do. I didn't want to question her. That wouldn't be kind, it could wait until we got back to the house.

The twins were unusually silent. My eyes drifted over to them. Both of their faces were full of sadness.

"Gothi was able to heal you last time this happened, I am sure our medicine woman can heal you this time!" I said reassuringly, but in the back of my mind, I wondered if that was true. Ulga, the Berserker medicine woman, was definitely good at her job, however, she was also getting old.

Astrid sniffed and hid her face against Hiccup's chest.

I knew this had to be one of the hardest and scariest things she has gone through, which made me thankful that she had Hiccup. Astrid is my best friend, seeing her like this killed me.

Brenna would pay.


	19. Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior

Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

Sweat started dripping down my face as the sun beamed down on me. I was propped up against the wall, just inside the mine shaft. Eret was across from me, tossing a small rock up in the air and catching it.

"Why couldn't we go with them?" Snotlout asked for the umpteenth time. He had been pacing back and forth in the mouth of the mine shaft since the others had left.

"Because we are bigger than them. We would slow them down trying to fit through these crevices," Eret explained once more. He threw his hands up in frustration.

"Well, Heather said she would come get us if they found Astrid! They have been gone too long. We should go after them!" Snotlout proposed loudly.

"Snot, if we go after them we could put them in more danger," I reminded him.

Snotlout grumbled and continued pacing.

"Oh, my gods! Snotlout would you stop! Your pacing is making me more nervous than I already am!" Fishlegs yelled.

We all were taken aback by the usually quiet viking's sudden outburst.

Fishlegs sighed. "I'm sorry. I am just really worried about them. What if there is another cave-in? I can't lose my girlfriend and my best friend all in one mission," he said, his voice getting quiet.

"I get it. I could lose my sister and my brother all in one mission," I said.

"The man and woman who helped me out of Drago's clutches and the woman that I fancy are all down there," Eret said.

"The woman you fancy? You don't mean Ruffnut do you?" Fishlegs asked.

"I do indeed, mate," Eret said with a smile.

"Yeah, get over that one quickly. Trust me. She and I were accidentally married for a few days. Worst days of my life," Fishlegs groaned at the memory.

I decided not to question that one at the moment. I made a mental note to ask Hiccup about it later.

"Four of my best friends and my cousin who is like a brother to me are all in that mine and it is driving me crazy knowing I can't help them!" Snotlout yelled frustratedly. He punched the wall, wincing and shaking his hand after his fist came in contact with the solid rock.

"Okay, I know waiting is hard, but they need us here and alert," I reminded everybody, "and getting yourself hurt isn't going to help anybody." I opened my bag and threw a bandage roll at the smaller viking.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Fishlegs!"

We all jumped to our feet just in time to see our friends running out of the darkness. My sister had been the one to call out for Fishlegs.

She ran and jumped at him. He barely caught her but sighed in relief once she was in his arms.

I noticed Heather was upset, as were the twins.

"Where is Hiccup?" I asked, noticing the absence of my one-legged friend.

"Right here," his voice was music to my ears. My body quickly spun around to face him, but I immediately was filled with concern. He was carrying Astrid in his arms bridal style. There was dried blood on a cut on her side, her clothes were torn and dirty. She had only been gone for about seven hours, but she looked like Brenna had had her for months. What really concerned me were her eyes. They were startlingly blue, almost no center.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, stepping forward to take Astrid from him so that he could rest. I led them all outside to a quiet stream that ran just past the treeline. I gently set Astrid down against a boulder. Hiccup sat beside her, taking her hand in his.

"I am okay. Brenna has an Armorwing. The fire was so bright. Astrid didn't know not to look at it," he said, taking deep breaths of fresh air.

"What?" Snotlout asked. He approached Astrid and held her hand. He looked at her eyes.

"You can't see us, can you?" Eret asked.

Astrid silently shook her head.

"Oh, Astrid. I'm sorry. But don't worry! We will get you back to normal," Snotlout said.

"I don't want you guys to feel sorry for me. I am not weak! If anything, this strengthens my other senses. Remember how well I could hear last time?" Astrid protested. It was the first thing she had said since they had come out of the mine.

"Astrid, we don't think you are weaker. You are still the strongest warrior among us," Heather reassured her.

Astrid didn't respond. She leaned against Hiccup. Everyone was silent, listening to the babbling of the stream in front of us.

"So what happened with Brenna?" Fishlegs asked.

"She got away with her dragon," Hiccup said bitterly.

Silence fell over the group once more, nobody wanting to say anything. We were all exhausted and didn't know what to do about Brenna and we were all worried about Astrid, though we would never tell her that.

"Okay, I have been holding off on asking, but we need to know," Heather said. Everyone looked up at her, except for Astrid, who kept her head down.

"What was Brenna doing, Astrid? Did you hear anything about what she is planning?" my sister asked.

Astrid nodded. "I think she thought I knew more about something that, in reality, I know nothing about," she said.

"And that is…?" I questioned.

"Gas bombs. She is filling the mines with them, using her dragon to weld the metal together. She has a crazy stash of Zippleback gas. I am pretty sure she had a Whispering Death at some point. There are tunnels underneath the entire town. She wanted me to tell her how it would be best to ignite them all at once. I think she also wanted to throw you guys off by taking me," Astrid said.

"Well if she has Zippleback gas, maybe she has Monstrous Nightmare gel? That would be the most effective way to light all of the bombs at the same moment. But if the gel is unavailable, she could just get dry grass and use it to make trails between each bomb," Fishlegs explained.

We all stared at him.

"Well, it sure is a good thing she didn't take you," Eret commented.

Fishlegs blushed slightly and went back to get some water from the stream.

"Okay, but what is she planning? Is she wanting to blow up the town?" I asked.

"Yes, actually," Astrid said.

"Wait, seriously?" Heather asked.

"She wants revenge on anyone who helped your father cast her out, and that is almost the entire Berserker population. She wants to start fresh, make any survivors her people, take over the island. She wants to be chief and she won't stop here," Astrid replied.

I shook my head nervously. I noticed Heather was tightening her grip on her ax and had her jaw set angrily. Hiccup was fidgeting with a buckle on his armor.

"At any given moment, those bombs could ignite and destroy everything," Snotlout observed.

Astrid nodded.

This was not going to happen. I jumped up to my feet and my eyes swept over the group in front of me. "We are not going to let this woman destroy our home, sister. We need to find her, but to do that, we have to get in those tunnels," I said firmly.

"Dagur, those tunnels are insane. Time feels different down there. I felt like I had been there for months when really it was what, seven hours? There are so many of them too. It would be so easy to get lost," Astrid told us.

"It wouldn't be with a Night Fury," Tuffnut said.

I shook my head, not wanting to deal with the twins outrageous ideas at the moment.

To my surprise, Hiccup's head jerked up.

"No, Tuff, that isn't a bad idea!" he said, jumping up.

"Fishlegs, if we could somehow replicate Toothless's sound waves, we could use them…"

"To see in the tunnels!" Fishlegs finished for him. He squealed excitedly.

"Okay, but how do we do that?" Snotlout asked.

"We could get one of those hollow drums for the sound. If you hold it up and hit it, the sound waves come from the hollowed out bottom of the drum!" Hiccup suggested.

"Do you have any of Toothless's plasma left?" Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup's eyes widened and he reached into his shirt, pulling out a chain necklace with a small, clear, vial hanging on it. Inside was a glowing purple liquid. Fishlegs squealed again.

"I didn't know you had that!" I exclaimed, stepping forward to look into the vial.

"I asked him for some before he left," Hiccup said quietly.

"I think if we hang that in front of the drum, it should create a similar effect to Toothless's echolocation!" Fishlegs reasoned. This was definitely what he and Hiccup most enjoyed, inventing things and using logic and intelligence.

The two best friends high fived and started planning excitedly. They started walking towards the town to get the supplies they needed. A few paces away, Hiccup stopped and ran back, helping Astrid up.

"Sorry, babe, I got excited," he said. Astrid just smiled and shook her head at her husband.

"Go ahead. Somebody else can help me out," she laughed.

Snotlout approached and took her hand.

"I got her, cousin," he said.

Hiccup kissed his wife's cheek and said a quick "thank you" before running to catch up with Fishlegs.

I sensed Heather beside me. "You and Astrid got the weird ones," I teased.

Heather chuckled and shook her head. "I'm just glad to see them excited about something. Today has been kind of depressing," she said, frowning.

I nodded and put my arm around her shoulders.

"We'll stop her," I told her.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know," she replied.


	20. Echolocation

Echolocation

_*Heather's Point of View*_

"Do you understand any of what they are saying?" I whispered, leaning towards Astrid.

She shook her head. "Nope. Usually, I can kind of figure out what they are doing by watching them, but that obviously won't work this time," she whispered back.

I sighed and took her hand in mine, squeezing it encouragingly.

"The medicine woman is on her way, remember? She'll help you," I reminded her.

Astrid nodded.

I turned back towards our boys. Hiccup and Fishlegs had been working nonstop for almost three hours on this new echolocation device. They seemed to be getting close, but I also had no idea what they were doing so I wasn't one hundred percent sure.

"Sorry dearest, I promise we will take a break as soon as Olga gets here," Fishlegs said, smiling at me.

"Don't worry. Astrid and I are used to being ignored for the good of our people," I teased.

The boys protested and Astrid and I laughed as they set down what they were doing to quickly give us each a kiss on the cheek before getting back to work.

I giggled and leaned against my best friend.

"Dagur says we got the weird ones," I said.

Astrid giggled too and replied, "They may be weird, but they certainly are the best ones."

I hummed in agreement as my eyes went back to Fishlegs. He really had grown up so much since our days at the Edge. All of us had.

A knock at the door caused me to jump. Astrid laughed at me. "Shut up, it surprised me," I groaned, lightly punching her arm.

"Oh, I thought Berserkers never got scared!" she teased.

When I opened the door, Olga, our medicine woman, greeted me with a smile.

"Hello, Chief Heather! I hear we had a run in with some bright fire?" She asked.

"Yeah, my friend did. She can't see anything," I explained, taking her to Astrid.

The boys had already paused their work and had covered up their table. We didn't want anyone to know about any of what was going on. We didn't mention the dragon either. All we told Ulga was that it was extremely bright fire.

Hiccup knelt beside his wife, who was sitting in a chair at the table. Olga lowered herself in front of Astrid to get a better look at her eyes. I think Hiccup was probably more nervous than Astrid was, his hand squeezing hers tightly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face my boyfriend.

"She'll be fine. Olga will fix her up," I told him.

"Yeah, it's Astrid. She is always fine," he responded.

My eyes went back to the three vikings at the table. "Want to wait outside?" I asked.

Fishlegs nodded enthusiastically and I led him out the back door. As soon as we were outside he pushed me against the wall and pressed his lips to mine in a not-so-innocent kiss.

"I have been wanting to do this all day," he muttered into the kiss.

I moaned slightly in surprise and moved my fingers up to his short blond hair, melting into him. His soft lips moved from my mouth down to my jaw and then to my neck, making me bite my lip slightly.

Then we heard someone clear their throat and Fishlegs immediately released me, both of our faces red.

I rolled my eyes when I saw my brother standing there.

"I swear you try to interrupt any time I get to have alone with Fishlegs," I accused him.

"Maybe. You're my little sister, I am just looking out for you," he said, eyeing Fishlegs.

"Sorry, Dagur," Fishlegs muttered.

"No, you are not sorry. Dagur, leave us alone. I am not a kid. In fact, I am your chief," I reminded him.

"Sure, you are the chief, but isn't that all the more reason not to have heated make-out sessions in public?" he asked.

"This is hardly public. You are the only one here," I retorted.

"But I still saw you, right? Anybody could walk up," he said.

I was tired of this. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother dearly, and I know he is just looking out for me. But Fishlegs was definitely not somebody I needed to be protected from. He is a big softie. He would never hurt me, or anyone for that matter, at least not on purpose.

Dagur shook his head at me. "Fine, little sister, I'll leave you alone. Just please don't make me an uncle yet," he teased. Then I realized most of this had just been teasing and I growled slightly in the back of my throat.

Dagur laughed and walked away to go find the others.

"He may be a good guy now, but his little sense of humor hasn't changed one bit," Fishlegs commented.

"He is still my annoying older brother," I said, shaking my head.

"He loves you," Fishlegs said.

I smiled and moved my arms to rest around his neck. "Yeah, I know he does," I said.

"He also knows how to kill the mood," Fishlegs chuckled. I knew it would take some coaxing for him to get the confidence to kiss me like that again.

"Not completely," I whispered, stepping closer to him once more.

"Maybe not," Fishlegs whispered in response.

Then we were kissing again, Dagur completely forgotten.

We had never done anything like this before. When we were together all those years ago, when we were young, both of us had been too shy to start a kiss, much less one like this.

I mean, I guess back then, I would have been fine with it. I wasn't all that shy. But that was only because I had had a boyfriend back when I was with my adopted family. I often forget that Fishlegs is actually a couple of years younger than me and that I was his first girlfriend.

Then he had a weird thing with Ruffnut for a while when I became the Chief of the Berserkers. He and Ruffnut both agreed that they weren't a good match.

Fishlegs and I, on the other hand, were a perfect team.

"Hey, Fishlegs? Oh… uh, sorry guys."

I sighed and pulled back to see who was interrupting us this time.

"It's fine, Hiccup. We were just about to come back in. What did Olga say about Astrid?" I asked. I squeezed Fishlegs's hand before walking inside with Hiccup. Fishlegs followed behind us.

"She says that her eyesight should come back in a few days. The fire didn't do any permanent damage. It's just like if you look at the sun for too long, except Astrid looked at it for a few hours," Hiccup explained.

He and Fishlegs walked back over to the table they had been working at and uncovered their invention to finish it. I went to sit with Astrid.

"Hiccup told me what Olga said, that's great news!" I said excitedly.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah, it is! Where do you and Fish go? I heard you two go outside," she said.

"Oh, just out back. Just wanted to get some fresh air," I said.

"Yeah, right. You realize that I know exactly what you were doing, right?" she asked, laughing slightly.

I sighed and shook my head. "Yeah, I know. But, hey, I accidentally interrupted you and Hiccup a couple of times while we were on the Edge so don't act so innocent," I told her.

"Never said I was innocent," she replied.

"Okay let's change the subject," I said, shaking my head.

"Fine," Astrid sighed, "have you heard anything from the others?"

I shook my head, then remembered she couldn't see me. "No, I haven't. Well, actually we saw Dagur, but he didn't do anything but tease us," I told her.

She laughed. "Oh I would have loved to have heard that!" she said between laughs.

"Yeah, shut up," I said, punching her arm.

Astrid kept laughing for a few more moments before sighing. "Okay," she said, "I'll stop. But, seriously, you might want to check on the others. They can be a lot to handle."

"I'll go find them now," I decided, standing up.

"Haha! Yes!" Fishlegs and Hiccup both shouted.

"What is it?" I asked, taking quick steps over to them.

"We got it! Look!" Hiccup said excitedly. He and Fishlegs held up the hollow drum on its side. They had tried many different drums, all made of different material and different sizes. They had hung Hiccup's vial of Toothless's plasma in front of the cut-out bottom of the instrument.

Hiccup raised his hand and hit the top of the drum hard. The sound echoed in the house, but also caused something amazing to happen. The sound somehow reacted with the plasma and sent waves of purple light across the room. The light bent around any object in front of it, outlining everything for a couple of seconds.

"Just like Toothless's echolocation," Hiccup said happily.

"Guys, this is amazing!" I said excitedly, jumping to hug Fishlegs.

Astrid had cautiously joined us as well, taking her time in walking over to us so as not to fall.

"Let's go show everyone else!" she suggested.

We all agreed and Hiccup and Fishlegs carried the invention out the door. All four of us started walking towards the guest house where everyone else had been resting after our little adventure from earlier in the day.

"They are going to think this is so cool!" Fishlegs squealed.

My hand reached out to Astrid and together we followed our boys.


	21. Plans

Plans

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

I hadn't had a dream in a while, but this one was so vivid.

It started with a boat. Just a small one, maybe room for three adults. I was watching from overhead, almost like I was flying. At first, I didn't see anything, but then something moved in the small boat. I willed my dream self to go down and get a closer look. To my surprise, Throk was the one rowing the boat.

"Throk!" I tried to get his attention, but I guess he couldn't hear me. He continued rowing, moving the little boat along swiftly through the ocean waves.

"Don't worry, little ones. We will reach land soon," he said.

Confusion. That was the best way to describe what I was feeling.

"Okay, Throk," a tiny voice said.

My eyes widened and I slowly turned my head and looked at the other end of the boat. Two smaller figures were sitting close together.

"Oh my gods," I said to myself. I willed my body to move forward in the dream so I could get a closer look.

I saw their faces. A little older, but without a doubt, my children.

"Ozzy! Marina!" I shouted happily. I tried to run to them, desperately wanting to hold them in my arms, but everything started to fade.

"No! No!" I yelled, trying harder to get to them.

Then I woke up to Heather, Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Astrid bursting through the door. Hiccup and Fishlegs were carrying something large between them.

I couldn't breathe. I was panting heavily, my entire body soaked in sweat.

"Dagur, brother, are you okay?" Hiccup asked.

Heather knelt in front of me as I sat on the couch, her hand holding mine.

"Was it another nightmare?" she asked quietly.

"I guess you could call it that. But it felt so real," I said, putting my head in my hands, my eyes shutting to focus on my breathing.

"Don't worry, it wasn't real. It was just a dream," Heather said reassuringly.

What I didn't tell her was that I was praying it was real. I desperately wanted it to be real. If that dream, nightmare, whatever it was, was real then my children are out there somewhere.

"Brother, Fish and I finished the echolocation device," Hiccup said with a smile.

Heather was right. It was just a dream. Couldn't have been real. There were no survivors.

"That's great, brother," I said, attempting a smile.

"Dagur, you are soaked with sweat. I'll go get you some water," Heather said, gently rubbing my back before she left the room to get a mug of water for me.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, let's see how this thing works," I said to Hiccup and Fishlegs.

They held the contraption up and Hiccup hit it. Suddenly everything in front of it was outlined with the glowing purple color.

"Woah," I said, jumping to my feet to get a closer look.

"It's awesome, right?" Fishlegs asked excitedly.

"Cool!" the twins shouted, rushing to get a closer look.

"Hey, hey, guys!" Hiccup shouted, "Back off! This is the only Night Fury plasma we have! If that vial breaks, it won't work!"

Everybody took a step back and started talking amongst themselves.

"Well, it's still quite impressive, mate," Eret said, giving the two young vikings a thumbs up.

"Guys!" Heather nearly shouted to be heard over the chatter.

Everyone stopped to look at her.

"It is getting late. We need to all go to bed, get some sleep, then tomorrow we will find the tunnels and stop Brenna once and for all!" she announced.

"Yeah!" Tuffnut cheered. He and Ruff both pounded their fists in the air.

"What? Are we not cheering for that?" Ruff asked when everyone else was quiet.

"Just go to bed. Get some sleep," I said, even though I knew it would be yet another sleepless night for myself.

Heather, Fishlegs, Hiccup, Astrid, and I all said goodnight to the twins, Eret, and Snothat before going back to the chief's lodge.

Hiccup and Astrid were the first to say goodnight. Hiccup gently led Astrid up to their room and shut the door behind them.

Then it was just me, my sister, and Fishface.

I sighed. "Okay, I am going to my room. You two be good," I said, pointing at both of them.

"Aren't we always, brother?" Heather asked, a smile playing at her lips.

I waved her off and slowly walked up the stairs to my room. Sleep wasn't even on my mind.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

_*Heather's Point of View*_

My eyes were heavy. It had been a long day. My best friend had been taken by my mother, we had gone into the abandoned mines to find my best friend, we ran into an Armorwing, saved my best friend, discovered what my mother's plan was, and invented an echolocation device. That's a lot to process in one day.

I needed a break. Cilla, my second in command, had basically been chiefing for me since I got back, and before I got back now that I thought about it. I definitely would have to do something for her to thank her. Because I had guests in the chief's lodge, she was staying in her old house with her family. I decided I would go check in with her in the morning.

Fishlegs quietly knocked on my bedroom door.

"Can I come in?" he asked sheepishly.

I smiled at him. "Of course," I said, motioning him to move forward.

He shyly took a few small steps inside and moved over to the chair at my desk.

"So, this is where you do all your chiefly things?" he asked curiously.

I nodded. "Yes. I didn't really want to use the office. When I was Dagur's second in command, this is where I did all my work. Moving everything to the office just didn't sound appealing," I explained.

Fishlegs nodded and looked around the room. His eyes paused when he saw a sketch of me and Dagur that Hiccup had drawn hanging on the wall. Several axes, a sword, and two shields were scattered around the room. My closet was slightly ajar, my armor peeking out from behind the door.

"It's kind of cool to see where you live," Fishlegs said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I just feel like I am getting to know more about you," he said, gesturing towards some books I had stacked on my desk. "For example, I didn't know you enjoyed reading," he said.

I laughed quietly. "I do, sometimes. Most of those were my father's," I told him.

He nodded and grew quiet again.

He tapped his fingers together nervously. "Well, I just wanted to say goodnight," he squeaked before standing and stiffly walking to the door.

"Fish, is that all you came in here for?" I asked.

"Uh, well, I guess not," he said nervously.

I stood up from my spot on my bed and approached him. His eyes looked from my feet and all the way up to my head. Only then did I realize that he had never seen me without my armor on.

"Then why did you come in?" I asked, moving my arms to rest around his shoulders.

He blushed. "I was hoping that, uh, that maybe I could get a kiss goodnight?" he asked, his voice shaky.

I giggled at how nervous he was. "I am your girlfriend. You don't have to ask," I reminded him.

"I know, I just wasn't sure how you felt about that. I didn't want to do anything you weren't okay with," he reasoned.

"Fishlegs, you really thought I would object to a goodnight kiss after the kiss we shared earlier?" I teased him.

"Well, when you put it like that…" he chuckled.

I shook my head at him and leaned in to kiss him. We moved in sync, his hands sliding to my hips, mine gently pulling his neck to get him closer. It wasn't as heated as the one from earlier in the day, but it definitely held more love.

When we finally pulled away we were both out of breath.

I laughed quietly and he sighed contentedly.

"Goodnight, Fishlegs," I said, kissing his nose before I stepped back.

"Goodnight, Heather," he said.

He smiled at me one last time before leaving to go to his room, shutting my bedroom door behind him.

A contented sigh escaped my lips as I climbed into bed. I couldn't wait for all this mess with Brenna to be over so that life could be "normal" for a while.

* * *

Waking up to the smell of breakfast is always the best way to get up in the morning.

I had told everyone to meet here in the morning for breakfast and for plan making. Cilla had been invited as well. I figured we could use all the help we could get.

After I got dressed and tightened the buckles on my armor I raced down the stairs, strapping my ax to my back. Hiccup and Astrid were in the kitchen, Hiccup at the fire and Astrid sitting on the table next to him.

"You guys didn't have to cook," I said.

"Well, good morning to you too, Chief," Hiccup teased.

"No, it isn't that I'm not grateful! I just meant that you guys could have slept a little longer. I could have cooked," I quickly fixed what I had said.

Astrid laughed and shook her head at me. "You needed the sleep much more than we did. You have been working hard!" she said.

I sighed and looked at both of them. "Thank you," I said, plopping down in my seat at the table.

"Oh! Heather, did I tell you? I woke up and I can see shadows! I can see your silhouette! I can't see colors or pretty much anything except just dark outlines, but it's a start!" Astrid exclaimed. I quickly jumped up and hugged her, grinning from ear to ear.

"H, I'm home!" Cilla called out playfully as she walked into the house.

I smiled wide and jumped up to meet her.

"You have no idea how much I have missed you!" I told her.

Cilla giggled and hugged me. "I've missed you too," she said.

We sat down at the table together.

"Hiccup, Astrid, this is Cilla, my second in command," I introduced her.

Cilla waved and said hello.

"Nice to meet you, Cilla," Astrid said cheerfully.

"The others should be along soon," I commented.

While we waited, Cilla got me caught up on everything that had been happening in town.

"So, nobody knows Brenna got out?" I asked.

"Well, at first they didn't. But, H, after all those search parties, people are started to wonder…" she said.

I groaned. "We'll get her, we have a plan. Kind of…" I said.

Cilla smiled and reached her hand out to squeeze my shoulder encouragingly.

Just then, Dagur bounded down the stairs. His hair was a mess and his hands were covered with something black. He had dark circles under his eyes.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

Dagur chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I couldn't sleep. So I did some drawing all night," he explained, moving to wash his hands in the wash basin.

"Okay then," I responded, "You going to be rested enough for today?"

"I'll be just fine, sister," he reassured me.

I nodded, pursing my lips together. I was worried about him. The nightmare he had yesterday must have really shaken him up.

"We're here! Where's the food!" Snotlout shouted, bursting through the door.

"Charming…" Cilla muttered.

Eret and the twins followed him in. Eret slapped the back of Snotlout's head. "Don't be rude," he said.

Snotlout rolled his eyes.

"Okay, guys, this is Cilla," I said.

"Hello," Cilla said, her eyes wondering over each of the vikings.

"Cilla, this is Snotlout, Eret, Ruffnut, and…"

"Tuffnut Thorston! Such an honor to meet a viking as lovely as yourself," Tuffnut interrupted me. He stepped forward and bowed dramatically for Cilla.

I glanced back at Hiccup and Astrid. They were just as confused as I was.

"Uh, yeah, that is Tuffnut," I finished.

Cilla smiled at him. "Hello, Tuffnut," she said sweetly.

Tuffnut had a big goofy grin on his face as he quickly took the seat next to her. He began asking her about her job and what she liked to do. To my surprise, they were actually pretty normal questions. Sure, he did ask her what her favorite breed of chicken was, but the rest weren't too out of the ordinary. Ruffnut sat on the other side of him, skeptically eyeing Cilla. The poor girl had her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive manner.

What surprised me the most was that Cilla actually seemed to be enjoying herself. She was laughing and asking Tuffnut questions as well.

I quietly got up and approached Hiccup.

"I'll help you with the food," I said quietly.

"Thanks," he responded.

"Have you ever seen Tuff like this?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Never," he responded.

A nearly silent "huh…" escaped my lips as I took some plates of food to the table, making sure everyone received one, including the lovestruck muttonhead.

After everyone was seated and had eagerly started eating, I decided to speak up.

"We have the echolocation device, and we have an idea of where Brenna is, the problem is we don't know which tunnel or mine she is in, and we don't know how far she has gotten with the bombs," I started.

"She already has all the bombs made. She finished the last few while she had me. By now she probably has them scattered throughout the tunnels and is trying to find a way to ignite them all at once," Astrid commented, taking a bite of the eggs on her plate.

My heart dropped. That would have been nice information to have earlier. But I took a deep breath. "Thanks for sharing, Astrid," I said sincerely.

"If we had more than one echo thingy we could just split up in the tunnels and find her faster," Snotlout said, his mouth full.

"Great idea, Snotface. Let's go find Toothless and get some more plasma!" Dagur said, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

I had to bite back a laugh at the look Snotlout gave Dagur. If looks could kill, Dagur would be minorly injured - it was just Snotlout after all.

"Like you have a better plan, genius?" Snotlout snipped.

"Yeah, I do. I say all of us who couldn't fit in the tunnels, Eret, Fishlegs, Snotface, and myself, all stay above ground. You guys go down with the echolocation device and figure out how far she is with her plan. Then you can report up to us and we will either evacuate the town if she is further than we thought or find another entrance and help you stop her," Dagur explained.

I leaned back in my chair, thinking about the idea.

"That's not bad, brother," I said.

Dagur smiled and nodded his head. "Thanks, sister," he responded.

"All right, that is what we are going to do. Everyone finish up your breakfast and get ready to go. Make sure you take water with you. I don't know how long this is going to take," I reminded everyone. I stood and took my empty dishes to the kitchen to clean them up and put them away.

It wasn't long before everyone was ready to head out, their weapons either on their back, at their hip, or in their hands

We all walked out the door and towards the mines together.


	22. Evacuation

Evacuation

Darkness.

Complete darkness.

After a quick goodbye to the boys staying above ground, Astrid led Hiccup, Ruff and Tuff, Cilla, and myself into the tunnels. It was rough getting back to where we had found her, some of the rocks had shifted, but we managed. Tuffnut helped Cilla the entire way.

"Oh, careful! It's slippery there. There's some water. You could fall."

"Watch out for that rock there. It's pretty sharp."

"If it weren't so dark I would tell you that you look really nice, but I can barely see you. I am sure you look nice though."

I rolled my eyes every time he spoke. It was all either cheesy or made me cringe. Cilla was going along with it. She was flirting just as much as he was.

To keep her mind off her brother, Ruffnut had taken over helping Hiccup with the echolocation device.

Every few feet they would send out the purple glow, hoping to catch a glimpse of Brenna or Knight's outline, but there was never anything but the tunnel ahead.

"We've been walking for hours. Can we take a break?" Ruff groaned.

Astrid squeezed my hand (I was the one leading her so she wouldn't trip) indicating she was getting tired too.

"Ten minutes," I agreed.

"Oh thank Thor!" Ruffnut exclaimed, dropping the drum and sitting down on the cold ground.

"Ruff, careful!" Hiccup complained, checking to make sure the drum and plasma vial hadn't been damaged. Thankfully, both were intact.

I took Astrid over to Hiccup and they sat down together.

Tuffnut and Cilla sat together, obviously. And that left me with Ruffnut.

"Hey Ruff," I said, sliding down next to her.

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey," she said bluntly.

"Look, I know you don't like having to share your brother, but he did this for you when you and Fishlegs were together," I reminded her.

"Yeah, but that was different," Ruff scoffed.

"How so?" I asked.

"That was Fishlegs. Tuff and I grew up with Fishlegs. We have known him all our lives. Tuff just met this girl," she said.

"Well, I have known Cilla for a long time now. I can vouch for her and tell you that she is a good person and would never hurt Tuffnut," I said reassuringly.

"Really?" Ruff asked skeptically.

"Really," I smiled at her.

"Whatever," Ruff groaned, turning away from me.

I sighed, knowing that no matter what I said, she would still take the lack of attention from Tuffnut hard. They hardly ever had to share their time with each other with anyone else. And even though they fought a lot and would pick on each other, they loved each other.

"It'll be okay, Ruff," I told her gently.

She didn't respond, just kept her gaze on the love birds across the tunnel from us.

"Hey, guys! You might want to see this," Hiccup called out. He had gone a few feet ahead of us just to see if we were coming up to anything interesting.

Everyone stood up and headed towards him, Ruffnut helping Astrid.

He stood in the entryway of a large cavern. We couldn't see anything inside because of how dark it was.

"Watch," Hiccup instructed. He held up the drum and hit it hard. The purple glow swam across the room, highlighting hundreds of egg-shaped structures along the floor.

"Oh, Thor…" Cilla muttered.

"Hiccup, are those what I think they are?" I asked.

"Bombs," he stated.

"Hiccup, they are going all along those tunnels over there too, look!" I said urgently.

He shot another purple blast and it highlighted trails of the bombs going all throughout the tunnels.

We all jumped in surprise when a loud screech.

"It's Brenna's Armorwing!" I yelled to be heard over the roar.

We hid behind a large boulder as Brenna and her Armorwing landed in the center of the cavern.

"Knight," she said, "ignite!"

I watched in horror as the dragon spewed fire in a circle around it, lighting a circle of the bombs.

I jumped up. "No!" I yelled loudly.

Brenna turned to look at me.

"You're too late, daughter. In just an hour your entire town will be destroyed. Any survivors will become my followers," she laughed maniacally.

"Heather, we have to go! We have to evacuate the island!" Hiccup told me.

"No! We have to stop the bombs! We have to stop them!" I yelled.

He motioned for the others to start running back the way we came. Ruffnut quickly took Astrid's hand and helped her run. Tuffnut grabbed Cilla's hand, and to my surprise, she didn't pull away. I watched as they disappeared into the darkness.

"Heather, there isn't time. I am sorry. But if we have any chance to save your people, we need to take it!" he said urgently.

"No! I can't just let her win! This island is all I have left!" I yelled.

Hiccup pulled me into a hug. Tears started falling down my face, landing on his armor.

"Heather, this is going to be the hardest thing you will ever have to do, but we have to go. We have to save the other Berserkers. They don't deserve to die," he said.

"But I do! I let this happen," I cried.

"Heather, no! This is not your fault in any way. This is all Brenna. We have to go now!" Hiccup said as the walls started shaking.

I looked at him for a moment then nodded and started running beside him down the dark tunnel we had come from.

I heard the first bomb explode. Then the second. And then a third.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground shook from the force.

Boom!

Then I heard Brenna scream.

"Oh, my gods!" I shouted.

"They must have gone off faster than she thought they would," Hiccup shouted to be heard over the explosions.

She hadn't escaped in time.

I covered my ears to keep from hearing her screams.

The walls and ground shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.

"Hurry!" Ruffnut yelled.

We slid through the narrow opening of the mines. We got out a lot faster than we had got in, probably because of the adrenaline coursing through our bodies.

"Guys, what's going on?" Dagur asked worriedly as we ran towards them.

"Evacuate the town! Now!" I ordered.

Dagur, Snotlout, and Eret rushed towards the town. Fishlegs stayed behind to help us.

Hiccup pulled the vial of Toothless's plasma from the drum and put it back around his neck, tossing the drum aside. He took Astrid's hand from Ruffnut and raced beside her, helping her avoid anything that could cause her to trip. Her eyesight was steadily getting better, but there were still some things she couldn't see.

"What happened down there?" Fishlegs yelled as we ran.

"Brenna ignited the bombs!" I responded.

"Where is she?" he questioned further.

"She didn't make it. The bombs went off faster than she thought they would, she didn't get out in time," I told him.

The poor dragon had lost its life as well. All because of that evil woman. He didn't know what was happening. He hadn't known what she was planning. How could he? He was a dragon. And now he had just lost his life.

When we made it to the town, all of the Berserker vikings were carrying whatever possessions they could hold and were making their way to the ships we had set up in case this happened. Parents and older siblings were carrying the younger children. Some children cried for their parents, having gotten separated in the crowd. I was glad to see Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Cilla, and Eret help the children that had gotten lost. Dagur, Snotlout, Hiccup, and Astrid, raced ahead to the ships so they could help people aboard. Every Berserker ship was at the ready, fully stocked with any provisions that were needed.

The ground shook and houses started falling in on themselves. I heard screams of terror as some people were swallowed by the ground or buried under the debris of their homes. Tears blurred my vision as I had to watch my people get killed by what my mother had caused. I saw Old Hook calmly sitting on his front porch next to his Maces and Talons board.

I quickly stopped and ran to him, Fishlegs yelling my name and following me.

"Old Hook, why are you sitting here? You have to go!" I told him.

"Child, I am old. It's my time to go," he said calmly.

"What? No! You have to come with us! Please," I said, my voice cracking.

"Heather, I am too old to run to the ships. I'd fall behind. I would much rather die here on my porch than in the middle of town," he explained.

"But we can help you!" I argued.

"I would only slow you down. Now, laddie, get her out of here," he said to Fishlegs.

Fishlegs nodded and gently grabbed my arms.

"Fishlegs, don't," I said, pulling away.

His grip held firm and he started pulling me back towards the ships.

"No! Fishlegs, let me go!" I yelled, pulling harder. Why did the man have to be so strong?

When we were a few feet away, Fishlegs stopped and rested his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eyes.

"Heather, we can't save everyone. We need to go," he said.

I started crying. My village was crumbling around me, my people feared for their lives. It was all too much.

"I can't leave knowing there are still people here," I said.

"They would want you to go. Old Hook wanted you to go. Heather, I love you. I love you so much! I have since I first met you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I want to have kids with you. But none of that will happen if we don't make it to those ships!" he said, his own voice cracking and his eyes tear-filled.

I stared up at him. "Y-you love me?" I asked.

He nodded silently. "I do love you, Heather. I want you to always be in my life," he said.

"That almost sounded like a proposal, Fishlegs," I said.

"Then make it a proposal! Will you marry me?" he asked.

I smiled at him. The building beside us collapsed suddenly and he pulled me out of the way of the debris. What was once a trade shop, now nothing but a pile of wood and dirt.

The ground continued to shake and I could hear the explosions now, meaning they were getting closer.

"Too close! Let's go!" he shouted.

Everything behind us started either collapsing or exploding from the underground bombs.

We ran as fast as we could and were the last ones to make it to the ships. Our friends had already helped everyone they could onto the other ships and had waited for us.

Fishlegs and I climbed aboard just as the docks started shaking.

"Go!" I yelled to Dagur, who was steering the ship. I fell to the deck of the ship, exhausted.

Fishlegs was next to me.

"Yes," I said quietly.

"What?" he asked.

"Yes, I will marry you, dork," I said, smiling softly.

He grinned at me and turned to his side so he could kiss me.

I didn't care that the others were watching or that the position we were in probably looked questionable. All I cared about was Fishlegs.

When we finally broke apart, he helped me get up. I looked back at my home. It was completely destroyed. A thick cloud of dust encompassed the island. Threes had fallen, the mountain in the back was even shaking. Dagur had put our father's chest on the ship, thank the gods. I couldn't lose those last pieces of him. But everything else, the houses, the shops, the tavern, and the meeting hall, all reduced to splintered pieces of wood and broken stones. Only three ships remained of the entire Berserker tribe. Three ships. People had lost their family members, their friends. Old Hook being one of the lost.

I cried.

Big tears fell from my eyes as sobs escaped my lips. I felt Fishlegs's arms envelop me and hold me tightly. I sobbed into his chest. He held me close, his hand brushing through my hair soothingly.

Hiccup and Astrid were holding each other too. Ruff, Tuff, and Cilla had their arms around each other (Tuffnut in the middle) while Snotlout and Eret stood side by side, neither of them wanting to show they were crying too. Dagur looked ahead to where the ship was going, not wanting to see another one of his homes destroyed. He had tears in his eyes too. No doubt he was thinking of his family as well as the ordeal we had just barely survived.

"Heather," Hiccup said softly, his voice hoarse.

I sniffed and turned to face him.

"Yes?" I asked quietly.

"Astrid and I want you guys to come to Berk. You can stay there," he said.

"What?" I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"We can merge the tribes - become one strong unit. You and Fishlegs can bring the tribes together," Astrid suggested.

I didn't have to think about it too long before I was nodding in agreement and had thrown my arms around both of them.

They had just saved my people. I hadn't known what to do, but they were there for me. They always had been there for me.

"You stay chief though," I said.

"What? We can both share the responsibilities," Hiccup said.

"No, you are the best chief I have ever met. I was a good chief, but I didn't always enjoy it. You were born for this job, Hiccup. I want you to be chief," I told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I will remain Berserker chief until everyone is settled in then I will pass on the title," I explained.

"Then I want you and Astrid to be head of defense and war leaders," he said.

I smiled. That suited me way better than chief ever had.

I held my hand out to him. "Deal," I said, smiling slightly.

He shook my hand and pulled me into a hug.

Astrid beamed at me and hugged me as well. They left to go tell the others, leaving me with Fishlegs.

"So I guess after all that has happened, you don't even want to think about setting a date to get married yet, huh?" he asked.

"How about three weeks?" I asked.

"Wait, what?" Fishlegs questioned.

"Is that too soon? I thought that should be enough time…" I answered.

"Three weeks?" he asked. He looked like he was thinking.

I nodded.

He smiled and lifted me up.

"Gods, I love you," he said before kissing me.

"I love you too, Fishlegs," I responded, kissing him in return.

"So, when's the wedding?" Dagur asked teasingly. He still didn't know.

I glanced at him. "Three weeks," I said nonchalantly.

"Woah, woah! What?" Dagur practically yelled.

Fishlegs and I laughed at my brother's confusion.

"Will you officiate it as former chief of the Berserker tribe and King of Defender of the Wing?" I asked.

"You're serious?" he asked.

Fishlegs and I both nodded.

Dagur smiled and let out a loud Berserker "Yeah!" before hugging us both.

"What's going on?" Cilla asked.

"These two are getting married in three weeks, and I am officiating!" he yelled excitedly.

Everyone crowded around us and congratulated us. Every single one of them was happy for us.

It was a bitter-sweet moment.

My island was gone. My home completely destroyed. But I still had the majority of my people. I still had my friends. And I still had Fishlegs.

I had a new home already on Berk. My people were welcome there too. A merger of tribes was always a big deal, a cause for celebration! I knew both tribes would be excited about it.

Later, when everyone had gone below decks to sleep, Fishlegs and I took over watch and steering duty.

"So will this make you a Berkian? Or…" Fishlegs asked curiously.

I shook my head.

"No, I will always be a Berserker," I responded.

Fishlegs chuckled. "Once a Berserker, always a Berserker!" he said, laughing slightly at his clever line.

I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Once a Berserker, always a Berserker," I repeated to myself, sighing as I realized how true it was.

We may not have our own island anymore, but it was like Hiccup always said about Berk. The island doesn't make the tribe, the people do. I still had my people, all those crazy, stubborn Berserkers. We would be merging tribes, of course, but we would always be Berserkers.

It was who we were. We were born Berserkers, had Berserker in our blood, fought like Berserkers, and we would die Berserkers, no matter what island we were on.

* * *

**Hello Readers,**

**This may seem like the end, but I assure you it isn't! There is still much more to come! (At least six more chapters)**

**Fishleg and Heather are engaged! **

**You will be able to read about when they had Mila and Ragnhild. Some of the things they went through as their children grew up will be covered as well. **

**And who wouldn't want to see Fishlegs be a protective father when Ragnhild and Nuffink start dating?**

**There is also a huge surprise coming!**

**Enjoy the next few chapters as this story starts coming to a close. And be on the lookout for information on my next story!**

**Please leave reviews! I want to hear what you guys think so far!**

**Happy reading!**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	23. Merger

Merger

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

My little sister was engaged. How in the world had that happened? I felt like these kids were all still eighteen and living on The Edge. But that was all three years ago now.

I sat alone in the bunk Fishlegs and I were sharing. Hiccup and Astrid had taken the one to the left of mine and Heather had taken the room to the right. She, Ruffnut, and Cilla were sharing while Eret, Snotlout, and Tuffnut shared the last room. Fishlegs and Heather were on watch duty so I had some time to myself.

I tried blocking out the memories from earlier in the day. Dust and smoke had been everywhere. When the forge collapsed, the debris caught fire from the flame inside and had started to burn the buildings around it. People had been screaming in fear. They feared for their lives, their kids' lives, their friends' lives… It was terrifying. I will never forget the looks on the children's faces, especially the ones who had gotten separated from their parents in the crowd. Some of the children were even left as orphans because their parents hadn't escaped in time. When we were sailing away I couldn't even look back. It was all too much to take in.

I was a coward.

All the smoke had brought the memories of Defender of the Wing island back up. Had my children been as terrified as the Berserker children? Did they watch their mother die? Were they buried under the debris of our home, or had the lava overcome them?

I started shaking.

I jumped up and ran out of the room and to the next room over.

"Hiccup?" I called out, banging on the door.

The door opened slightly.

"Dagur? Are you okay?" Hiccup asked. I saw a concerned Astrid standing behind him.

I shook my head and practically lunged at him as I started to cry. If I had been thinking, I probably would have been embarrassed. But my mind wasn't thinking at the time. All I could do was feel, and it was terrible.

"Hey…" Hiccup was about to say it's okay, but he knew it wasn't.

None of this was okay.

I lost my island, the home of my tribe and my birthplace; I lost my wife's island, the place where she and I had ruled as king and queen; I lost my family, my son, my daughter… and my wife.

Hiccup hugged me and I felt Astrid slowly join the hug as well.

After a few minutes, I cleared my throat and sniffed, wiping my eyes quickly and pulling away.

"S-sorry. I don't know what came over me. I'll leave you two alone now," I said, turning to leave. I could feel my cheeks burning.

Hiccup grabbed my upper arm to stop me.

"Don't go, brother. You can't be alone," he said.

I shrugged his hand off my arm.

"I'll be fine," I said, though even I wasn't convinced.

"Stay for just a few minutes," Astrid said, "we don't even have to talk if you don't want to."

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get away so easily. These were two of the most stubborn vikings I had ever met.

"Okay," I responded, barely above a whisper.

Hiccup stepped aside and let me sit down on a chair in the room. He and Astrid sat on the end of the bed.

After several moments of silence, I sighed and said, "I have lost two homes, many friends, my mother, my wife, and my children, all in just a couple of months." Tears formed in my eyes once more.

Astrid reached her hand out to hold mine. I smiled slightly, realizing her sight must be getting better.

"Brother, I can't even begin to imagine how hard these past couple of months have been for you," Hiccup said quietly. He and Astrid both had tears in their eyes as well, though their faces were still dry.

I nodded silently.

"But Astrid and I are always here for you and Heather. Eret, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins are too," he said.

"I know, and Heather knows too," I responded, "and we thank you for that. You have no idea how happy she and I are about this merger."

"We are excited about it too," Astrid commented with a smile.

Just then Fishlegs burst into the room.

"We've sighted Berk!" he squealed.

Hiccup and Astrid jumped up excitedly. They hadn't seen their home in several weeks now.

I slowly followed behind them, taking deep breaths to calm my emotions.

As I stepped into the sunlight above deck I could see the outline of Berk way out on the horizon. The corners of my mouth lifted slightly. No matter how many homes I lost, this one was still here for me.

Several hours passed and we were finally ready to come into port. Valka and Gobber were waiting on the dock with wide smiles. As we disembarked we were bombarded with greetings and hellos from the Berkians, along with questioning glances towards the Berserkers, who were also disembarking from the ships. As the other ships unloaded a solemn silence fell over the crowd of Hooligans. They all knew something bad had happened.

Valka rushed over to Hiccup and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, mom," he mumbled into the hug.

"Oh, son, I've missed you," she said. She pulled back and looked to Astrid.

"I've missed you too, daughter," she said, pulling Astrid into a hug. She suddenly pulled Astrid back. "Why are you crying, dear?" she asked.

Astrid smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She turned to Hiccup.

"You have the greenest eyes," she choked. Hiccup sighed in relief and held her close to him. They were both crying now. The rest of us dragon riders were all so excited. We raced over and nearly suffocated her in a group hug. Astrid's sight had come back. It was still a little blurry, but she could see.

Gobber bumped my shoulder kindheartedly and said hello.

"Now, laddie, do you care to explain why Astrid of all people is crying? And why are all these Berserkers on our island?" Gobber asked me.

"Hiccup and I will explain later to the entire village," I responded.

We looked up when we heard some joyful shouts and saw that Heather and Fishlegs had told Valka they were betrothed.

Valka was a mom for all us dragon riders. For those of us who still had our mothers, Valka was mom number two. She treated all of us like her kids. Most of the time that was a good thing, as long as you didn't do anything stupid.

"Okay, everyone! I am calling an emergency tribe meeting outside the Great Hall!" Hiccup announced. I locked eyes with him and nodded. We wouldn't be able to walk over there together, too many people, but I would meet him there. I started making my way through the crowd of mingling Berserkers and Berkians.

When I finally escaped the crowd and got up to where Hiccup was I was out of breath.

"Gods, we need to feed these people less," I said teasingly.

Hiccup chuckled. "I tried telling my father that," he laughed.

"So, how do you want to start this?" I asked.

"Like this," Hiccup said. He picked up his father's old hammer and hit it against the rock we were standing on. It made a loud THUMP and got everyone's attention.

"Now, I know you are all wondering why we brought back three ships of Berserkers with us," Hiccup started. Everyone was nodding in agreement, even the Berserkers, who didn't know about the merger yet.

"Dagur, you want to explain this part?" Hiccup asked quietly, looking back at me.

I nodded silently and stepped forward.

All eyes were on me. I cleared my throat. "Uh, thank you, Hiccup," I started nervously.

"As you know, two weeks ago we received a letter from my sister, Heather, saying that something insane had happened on Berserker Island. Our mother, who had been banished by our father over twenty years ago, had returned. She was held in the prison cell for a few days but once we got there, she escaped. The next two days were spent looking for her and on the second day, we discovered she had dug a maze of tunnels underneath the town with a Whispering Death. She also had an Amorwing that she used to create bombs out of Zippleback Gas. Astrid was kidnapped by her and lost her sight due to looking at the Armorwing's flame, but praise to the gods she has her sight back," I said, smiling at the blue-eyed viking.

The people clapped at this and Astrid smiled and waved somewhat awkwardly. She liked attention, just not this kind of attention.

I turned my attention back to the villagers. "We tried our hardest to stop Brenna, my mother, but we weren't quick enough. She lit the bombs and we were hardly able to evacuate. Brenna overestimated the amount of time she would have and was accidentally killed by her own bombs. In the end, we lost many brave Berserkers due to the villages collapse and the explosions. My sister and Fishlegs barely made it out in time," I paused to take a deep breath, my voice choking from the thought of losing my sister. A sigh escaped my lips and I continued, "Berserker Island no longer exists. But your incredible chief, and my best friend, Hiccup Haddock, has offered a plan of merger," I finished and looked back at Hiccup. The Berkians and Berserkers were muttering amongst themselves.

The young chief stepped forward. "In three weeks time, Heather of Berserk and Fishlegs Ingerman will be married and our tribes will officially merge to form one tribe. This new island has plenty of space and provisions, why not share it? People of Berk, I want you to welcome our new friends with open arms! They will all need places to stay. Construction on new houses will begin tomorrow. Next week we will begin work on expanding the market so that everyone will have a chance to provide for their families and do what they are good at. I will post a list of all my leaders on the doors of the Great Hall for any of the Berserkers who had a job like fishing, mining, or logging. That way you will all know who to talk to about finding your place in this town," Hiccup paused to let everything he had just said sink in.

I was impressed. He really had thought ahead on this. Fishermen would go to Eret, blacksmiths to Gobber, historians and record keepers would go to Fishlegs, woodsmen would go to Snotlout, healers to Gothi, farmers to Valka, and anyone who had a shop on Berserk would go to the twins. They were in charge of the marketplace.

I snapped back to attention when Hiccup cleared his throat. "Again, everyone, we can get along. This is going to be a successful merger! Welcome these amazing people. They have just lost everything and need our support. Now, everyone who can, please provide a room for a new family. Several of these children don't have families. Their parents were lost in the destruction of the island. They will need care until we can find families for them. All this will only be for a few nights, no more than a week if construction goes well. There will be dinner for all in the Great Hall this evening. Astrid, Heather, Dagur, and I can answer any questions," he finished with a nod.

"Who will be chief?" somebody called out.

Hiccup chuckled. "I knew that would be the first question," he said, "Dagur and I will be sharing the responsibilities of the chief. We are going to be equal partners in this. Astrid and Heather will also be equal partners when it comes to war strategies when we are not at peace and battle training in the arena."

The talking filled the air. A few more concerned vikings approached Hiccup and Astrid, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Valka decided to help the cooks at the Great Hall, Eret walked to the Forge to catch up with Gobber, the twins took Cilla on a tour, Snotlout left to find Willow, and Heather and Fishlegs walked hand in hand to his house, where she would be staying (in a separate room of course). I sighed, alone in the middle of town. After a few awkward moments of just standing there, I decided to go around and make sure all of the Berserkers were getting settled in.

I quietly walked through the town and passed by all the houses, helping people carry some of their belongings and keeping track of any extra blankets or pillows that were needed so I could attempt to gather some together. So far everyone was settling in just fine.

The people of the Hooligan tribe were definitely welcoming to the people of the Berserker tribe. I knew the merger would be successful.


	24. Summer Bets

Summer Bets

_*Heather's Point of View*_

It has been a week. The first official day of summer was tomorrow and everyone was getting excited. Berk had a tradition that every year on the first day of summer there would be a great feast, complete with a roast and a massive bonfire. It was also something men would ask women they fancied to go to. Fishlegs asked if I would go with him last week. He was all nervous, even though we are engaged and he knew I was going to say yes.

Snotlout asked Willow, and according to what Eret told me, Snotlout was planning on officially asking her to court him. The twins both asked Cilla to join them. If you get one twin, you get both. Eret was going with Valka. Not romantically, of course. It was more like if a son asked his mother to go with him. Hiccup, Astrid, and my brother were going to be hosting most of it, because of their chiefly titles. And Gobber was attending with a man from the Berserker tribe. They were about the same age, neither of them had ever married, and when they met they immediately clicked.

It was definitely going to be a fun night.

But at the moment, I was busy with some of my people's worries. Until the wedding, I was still technically their chief because the official merger was the wedding.

"I don't have anywhere to put my goats!" a Berserker viking complained.

"Well, we are still working on constructing houses. For now, you can leave your goats in Berk's sheep pens," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"But my goats aren't sheep! They're goats!" the viking exclaimed.

"Oh, my gods! It doesn't matter! We will get a pen for your goats as soon as we can, but until then put them with the sheep! How did you even have time to get your damn goats on the ships?" I shouted.

The viking before me stepped back nervously. "Okay, I'll do that, chief," he said shakily before he rushed off.

"Heather, dear, don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Fishlegs asked gently.

"I know, I'm sorry. I am just so tired of all the complaints. And why does it matter if the goats and the sheep are in the same pen? It doesn't make sense," I groaned, leaning my head against his chest.

He rubbed my back soothingly.

"You only have two more weeks. Then Dagur and Hiccup officially take over all of it and we get to settle down together," he said reassuringly.

"That sounds amazing," I muttered against his chest.

"Then maybe after a year or so we could think about that family we want to start?" he asked hesitantly.

"Fishlegs…" I mumbled.

"I know, I know! You don't want to think about having kids because of your parents… but can't you just see a little girl with your hair and eyes running around spouting off facts about dragons. Or maybe a little boy like me getting really excited when he is finally old enough to start training with you? Heather, how adorable would that be?" he squealed.

I giggled at his excitement. "Okay, I guess that would be cute…" I agreed.

"See?!" he exclaimed.

"Don't get too excited. I still don't like the idea of carrying a kid around inside me for nine months," I warned.

"Hey, I'll take what I can get. That was definitely a step of progress," he said excitedly.

"Okay, let's just go home. I'm ready to just eat dinner and go to sleep," I sighed.

"Of course, dearest," Fishlegs agreed. He took my hand and we walked back to his house together.

The next day was insanely busy. People were running around making last minute food purchases for the fest that was going to happen that night. Valka was overseeing the kitchen, mostly to keep Gobber out, and Hiccup and Dagur were busy helping with construction, which left the bonfire preparations with me and Astrid.

"Heather!"

I turned around and a smile stretched across my face as Astrid approached me.

"Ready to boss the boys around?" she laughed.

"Always," I replied.

We laughed and linked arms as we walked towards the forest.

There we found Snotlout and Eret waiting for us.

"Hello, boys," I greeted.

Snotlout nodded and Eret actually said, "hello."

"Let's start getting this wood! We need those two carts full," Astrid instructed, gesturing towards two carts resting on the edge of the treeline.

"Do we have to do this? I was going to go find Willow," Snotlout complained, resting his ax over his shoulder.

"Well, then why don't we make it more interesting?" I questioned, casually gripping my ax handle.

"Oh, I like the sound of that!" Astrid exclaimed, her competitive side already coming out.

"Okay, what would the stakes be?" Eret asked thoughtfully.

"If you two fill your cart first, we will announce to our friend group that we lost, we will do your stable chores for a week and we have to haul both carts," I suggested.

"Oh I like the sound of that," Snotlout said, rubbing his hands together.

"Not done yet," I reminded them, "If we win, you two have to announce to our friend group that you lost, you will do our stable chores for a week, and you have to haul both carts back."

"So same stakes both ways? Nah, I want to add something else," Eret said.

"Okay, and that is?" Astrid asked.

"If we win, you owe both of us dances tonight at the bonfire," he said with a grin.

Astrid clenched her fists slightly.

"And if you lose?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"We will add two more weeks of chores," he said.

Snotlout gasped, "What? A month of chores?"

"Deal!" I agreed, holding my hand out.

We all four shook on the bet.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, waving over the young man from a construction site nearby. He ran over.

"Yes, milady?" he asked.

"We need you to supervise a competition. Then you can get back to that house," Astrid said.

"We are all taking a break anyway. Dagur and I could use a distraction," Hiccup agreed readily. He waved my brother over.

All four of us took our positions, axes in hand.

"All right, you know the deal. First to fill their cart wins. No shady business," Dagur announced.

"Get ready, and set, go!" Hiccup shouted.

It was as if we had been let off a leash. Astrid and I chopped through trees as if we were Timberjacks. Every time one fell we would work together to cut it into logs and then load the wood as a team.

"That's a quarter full for each team!" Hiccup announced.

"Come on, Heather. I really don't want to dance with Snotlout," Astrid panted as she fell another tree.

I laughed and swung my ax to make the logs, riding the tree of the small branches as well.

We stacked the logs neatly in the cart.

After about half an hour both teams were getting close to the finish.

"Last trees!" Dagur yelled in true Berserker fashion.

My arms were getting tired, but I didn't let it slow me down.

"We got this, Astrid!" I shouted to be heard over the noise of chopping wood.

Then we were stacking the last log and Hiccup yelled, "Girls win!"

I looked over at Snotlout and Eret and saw they only needed about three more logs.

"That was a close match, boys," I said, holding my hand out to them.

They begrudgingly shook our hands.

"You two are much stronger than you look," Eret commented.

"You are just now figuring that out?" Hiccup asked, putting his arm around Astrid and kissing her cheek.

"Haha, I guess so! What a fool I am, eh mate?" he laughed.

He and Snotlout finished their cart and then started pulling them back to the center of town.

"Nice one, sis," Dagur praised, high fiving me.

"Thanks, brother," I responded. He offered his canteen and I gladly accepted and took a big swig of water.

"That was the most fun I have had in a while," Astrid announced happily.

"Same here," I agreed, laughing.

"Well, you boys have a house to finish before tonight and we have to go make sure the boys hold up their end of the bargain," I said, giving my brother a kiss on the cheek and waving to Hiccup.

Astrid and I walked to the middle of town together and were glad to find the boys stacking the wood into a pile for the fire.

"That wasn't part of the deal boys, we could have done that," I told them.

Eret looked up. "We never leave a job unfinished," he said proudly.

"Yeah he doesn't and he is making me stay and help him," Snotlout complained.

As soon as the last log was stacked Snotlout ran off to find Willow.

"Thank you, Eret," Astrid said.

"Of course, war leaders. Always happy to help my best mates, even if half of it was for a bet," he laughed.

He then left to go find Gobber. He had been helping out the old man a lot lately.

"I am going to go check on Valka," I stated.

"Sounds good, I'm going to go see my husband," Astrid commented. She gave me a quick hug before turning towards the houses that were still under construction.

Many of the new Berserker families had houses already, there were only a few who didn't. Many of the orphans had also either been adopted are were working as apprentices to some people in the marketplace. Gobber had two helping him around the forge. Gothi and Ulga even had one little girl that they were training to be their successor. Everything was working out nicely. My people were all happy here, even those who didn't want to admit it.

The kitchen in the Great Hall was in a state of ordered chaos. Everyone knew what they were doing and they were working together for the most part, but there was food everywhere. Different smells hit me all at once. Yak, mutton, fish, vegetables, you name it and it was there. The kitchen was steamy and hot. I was already sweating the moment I stepped inside.

I spotted a flash of red and grey hair and pushed through the crowd of men and women to get to the older woman.

"Valka!" I shouted about the chatter.

Valka looked up and smiled from ear to ear when she saw me. "Hello, Heather," she said happily, "What can I help you with?"

"I just wanted to make sure everything in here was going as planned. You don't need any extra helpers, do you?" I asked.

Valka laughed loudly. "I think I have more help than I can handle, dear," she chuckled.

I smiled. She was right. There were about thirty vikings crammed into the kitchen all preparing something different. This was going to be quite a large feast. Of course, it had to be. Berk had doubled its inhabitants since last year.

The sun had already swung around to the other side of the island and was beginning to set.

"Everyone will be going to the bonfire soon. My bet is my daughter-in-law already has it blazing. You should go join her and your friends, dear. I have plenty of help," Valka reassured me.

I thanked her and left the hot kitchen.

Several vikings either waved at me or stopped to say hello as I walked through town. It reminded me of how things were back home.

"There she is! My little sister!" Dagur shouted excitedly as I approached my friends.

"Sorry, guys, I was helping Valka out," I explained as I sat down at the table they had picked. We had moved all the tables from the Great Hall outside so people would have places to eat. The Great Hall was being expanded at the moment. We already had more tables to accommodate my people, but the building was taking longer to expand than we had thought.

I sat between Dagur and Cilla. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were on the other side of Cilla, followed by Snotlout, Willow, Eret, Fishlegs was across from me, Astrid, and then Hiccup who was on the other side of Dagur. There were three empty seats between Eret and Fishlegs for our elders. Valka was the first to make an appearance, sitting next to Eret. Then Gobber came along with the man who was accompanying him.

"Thor's beard, you are a loud bunch. We heard you lads and lasses a mile away!" Gobber teased. Whenever we tried to be quieter, it didn't really work. We are also a group of eleven 20-something-year-old vikings - being loud was in our description.

"Anyway, kids, this is Renouf. He was a leather detailer back on Berserker Island," Gobber introduced the man sitting next to him. We all welcomed him happily. I think we were all glad that GObber had finally found somebody he liked. He needed a companion.

The bonfire was blazing in the center of the ring of tables. Valka and the other cooks had passed the food around, each table getting a large plate of each food item to split amongst the people at the table. We all grabbed what we wanted before it was taken by somebody else at the table. When we all had our food I glanced around at the people I was sitting with. Tuffnut was flirting with Cilla, Ruff was rolling her eyes at her brother, Snotlout and Willow were discussing some of the menu items, Eret and Valka were having a conversation about the fish, Fishlegs was asking Gobber and Renouf if they were going to merge their businesses together, and Hiccup and Dagur were telling Astrid how construction was going. I loved seeing all my friends just being themselves like this. Just sitting down, enjoying each other's company. This was something I never had on Berserker island, mostly because there weren't very many vikings my age.

I took a bite of a yak chop and I looked around to find Valka in the crowd. When I saw her I waved the yak chop up and gave her a thumbs up. She beamed from ear to ear, glad that I was enjoying her cooking. I knew how to cook pretty well, but Valka was a master. It was strange because she never really had to cook for anyone but herself. But she was amazing.

She and Gobber were at a table with some of the other elderly vikings like Spitelout, Gothi, and Ulga. I sighed sadly. Old Hook probably would have sat with them.

My eyes scanned the tables of vikings, seeing that my people were all mixed in with the Hooligan tribe. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Everyone was at home.

I am beginning to really like this bonfire tradition.

* * *

**Hello Readers,**

**I know it has been a while and for that, I apologize. I am currently taking a summer college course and it is an insane amount of work. I have worked ahead on most of the homework so I am hoping to be able to write more often! I sure have missed it.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	25. Rituals

Rituals

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

"Well you could always just propose to her," Eret suggested.

"But we have only officially been courting for a week! What kind of guy would that make me?" Snotlout asked.

"One who doesn't want to lose his girl," Eret responded.

"Guys, what's going on?" I asked. Hiccup, who had walked into the conversation with me, nodded in agreement with my question.

"Willow's parents received a marriage offer for her. It's some guy from Outcast," Snotlout said sadly.

"Oh, well if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't sign it," Hiccup said.

"You wouldn't have to. Only one chief has to sign it," Snotlout groaned miserably.

"Oh... Eret is right though. I can help you write up a contract if you'd like," Hiccup offered.

"Really? You guys don't think it is too soon?" Snotlout asked.

"Snot, if you know she is the one, why waste any more time?" I asked.

Snotlout nodded. "Okay," he said, "Hiccup, how exactly does one write up a marriage contract?"

"Well, first you need to negotiate a dowry with her father. Go talk to him and come back to me with that negotiated price and we will write it up together," Hiccup instructed.

Snotlout jumped up. "Okay, gotcha. Gods, I am actually nervous," he said, wiping his sweaty palms on his tunic.

"Relax, Snothat! She loves you. You got this," I reassured him.

He nodded then walked towards Willow's house, his steps not quite as confident as usual. Eret followed behind as moral support.

"I can't believe Snotlout is actually going to negotiate a dowry. Not just that, but for a girl who actually loves him!" I said incredulously.

Hiccup laughed. "Yeah, I am surprised too. But, honestly, they balance each other out perfectly," he said.

"That they do," I agreed with him.

"I mean, Willow is incredibly intelligent and sweet. She is a very calming presence. And Snotlout, well he is Snotlout," Hiccup chuckled.

"Rough and tumble, prideful, all viking?" I suggested.

"Perfect," Hiccup laughed.

"Hey, have you seen Heather? I wanted to ask her about the ceremony. I am officiating," I said proudly.

"I was just about to ask you if you've seen Fishlegs. He was supposed to go scouting on the east side of the island with me, but I haven't seen him," Hiccup commented.

"Hmmm… Heather and Fishlegs both nowhere to be found?" I said sarcastically.

"I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he took her scouting with him," Hiccup thought aloud.

"You going to go look?" I asked.

"Probably. Astrid can hold the fort down here for a few hours. You want to join me?" Hiccup offered.

"That actually sounds like a nice break from the day to day operation here," I sighed.

"Then go pack a lunch and fill your canteen. Meet on the eastern edge of town behind the twins' houses in an hour or so? I have to let Astrid know what we are doing," Hiccup said.

"Okay, I'll meet you there," I agreed.

Hiccup smiled and left to go find Astrid. I started walking towards the Great Hall.

I walked into the back door, straight into the kitchen.

Valka was there talking to some of the cooks. "Valka, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Just checking on the food inventory here. I run the crops and planting, remember?" Valka chuckled. She walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"I remember. I guess I just never realized how closely you work with the kitchen," I said.

Valka nodded with a smile. "What can I do for you, Dagur the Deranged?" she asked.

"Gods, haven't heard that one in a while," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "I came to pack a lunch. Hiccup and I are scouting the eastern side of the island… and looking for my sister and Fishlegs."

"I can pack one for you if you'd like," Valka offered.

I sighed. "That would be really nice, thanks Valka," I said gratefully.

"Of course, dear," Valka replied. She took my bag from me and opened it. I watched as she packed an apple, some leftover fish from the previous night's dinner, and a loaf of bread.

"I figured you could share the bread with my son. Knowing him, he won't pack a substantial lunch unless Astrid helps him," she chuckled.

I nodded. "Of course, Valka," I replied. She handed me my bag.

"Now, get going," she said, waving me off.

I turned towards the door. "Thanks, Valka!" I called over my shoulder.

The Thorston huts were on the outside edge of town. They needed their space. Ruffnut had a large pen and several pits for her boars. She provided a lot of the towns boar meat. Tuffnut, on the other hand, had a massive chicken coup behind his hut. He refused to kill any of the chickens, so we only got eggs from him. I had been inside his house briefly and the main hallway was also lined with straw for even more chickens. But his favorite, Chicken the First, was constantly by his side, even slept in his bedroom. It was a bit strange, but undeniably a very "Tuffnut" thing to do.

When I got there Hiccup was already waiting for me.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. I was getting my lunch. Your mom gave me extra because she didn't think you would pack enough for yourself," I teased.

"Gods…" Hiccup muttered, shaking his head. But I knew he loved it. He hadn't had a mom to fuss over him when he was a kid.

"Look here," Hiccup said, kneeling down by the treeline.

"Ah, two sets of footprints," I chuckled.

"So he did take Heather! And he didn't think to tell me? I would have gone too!" Hiccup feigned hurt.

"Hiccup, brother, trust me. You would not have wanted to go with them. I have been spending a lot of time with them and they are in full love bird mode," I laughed.

"Sounds like you have seen some things," Hiccup laughed.

"When it was you and Astrid, I was okay with it. But this is my little sister! Every time they kiss I want to yell at Fishlegs to get off her," I said.

"Well, it is a good thing you don't. I do not think Heather would appreciate that," Hiccup chuckled. And he was right.

We started walking the way the prints led.

We soon had to stop for lunch. Valka had been right, Hiccup was really bad at packing a lunch for himself. All he packed was an apple and half a yak chop. He tried to make me keep all of the food Valka packed for me, but I reminded him what she had said and he took what I had offered him, not without a complaint or two of course.

After about an hour of walking, we heard them.

"Oooh! Look! Goat Weed!" Fishlegs squealed.

I laughed quietly. "And to think, I thought we'd find them making out or something," I whispered.

"Not Fishlegs. Not when there are plants to discover," Hiccup whispered in response.

We emerged from the thick bushes, surprising Fishlegs. He yelled when he saw us, holding his hand over his chest.

"You could have given a warning! My heart is about to beat out of my chest," Fishlegs said.

Heather laughed and kissed his cheek before walking over to me.

"Hello, brother. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just looking for you," I said.

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry…" she mumbled.

"What have you guys found?" Hiccup asked.

"Hiccup, we have found so much! We found a whole clearing of Dagga Plant, a lake with a sandy shore that was covered with Buckthorn, and look at this field of Goat Weed!" Fishlegs said excitedly.

"That's great Fishlegs!" Hiccup exclaimed, matching his friend's excitement.

I shook my head. "Nerds," I mumbled to Heather.

She laughed. "You have no idea, brother."

"Oh! We also found a clearing where we think a pack of Changewings nested! There are Changewing skins all over the place! And there are tons of dragons scales around the lake we found!" Fishlegs informed us.

"Hey, that's actually pretty cool, Fishface," I told him.

He nodded in excitement. "I know, right?" He said happily.

"So, why were you looking for me, brother?" Heather asked.

"I was just wanting to ask you a question about the ceremony next week," I said.

Fishlegs and Heather both looked up.

"Oh? Well, ask away," Heather said.

"Are you guys going to do this wedding Berserker style or Hooligan style?" I asked.

"Actually, we are going to do a bit of both," Fishlegs said.

"Yes, we are going to do the cloth binding tradition of the Hooligan tribe and the sword exchange of the Berserker tribe. We are going to leave out the Berserker goat sacrifice," Heather explained.

"Sounds perfect!" I said.

"We are also going to do the ring exchange since both tribes do that," Fishlegs commented.

"What's the sword exchange?" Hiccup asked.

"It's an old tradition where a sword is passed down from generation to generation. The bride receives the groom's sword and eventually gives it to their son and the groom receives the bride's sword and eventually gives it to their daughter," I explained.

"And what if they have more than one of each?" HIccup questioned further.

"Then either a new sword is made or another ancestral one is brought forth," Heather explained further.

"Interesting… When we merge the tribes all weddings after can be held like yours. That way we have bits of both tribes," Hiccup decided.

"But, Heather, we lost our father's sword. How are you going to exchange it?" I asked.

"Actually, I have been meaning to talk to Hiccup about that," she said.

"Me?" Hiccup asked.

Heather nodded. "I have a drawing of Oswald's sword in his journal. Do you think you and Gobber could make one like it for me?" she asked.

Hiccup smiled. He loved when he could work in the forge. "Of course! Just bring the drawing by later and I can start making a mold and get the material together," he said happily.

Heather thanked him.

I looked up at the sky and saw the sun was swooping down towards the west.

"We might want to start heading back before it gets dark," I suggested.

The others agreed and we started the trek back to town together.


	26. Once a Chief, Always a Chief

Once a Chief, Always a Chief

_*Heather's Point of View*_

"Are you nervous?" Astrid asked as she straightened my bridal crown.

"No, actually I'm not," I said calmly.

We were in Hiccup and Astrid's room. Valka, Ruffnut, Cilla, and Astrid were helping me get ready.

"You look lovely, dear," Valka complimented me.

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Valka," I replied.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had not looked at myself in a while, I never really saw the need. My eyes studied my face. I looked a bit older. My hair was still jet black and reached slightly below my ribs now, my eyes still a shining green. The dress I was wearing was white and had short sleeves and was fairly simple. There weren't any designs on the skirt or bodice, just smooth white fabric. Hiccup had forged two medallions to hold my cloak on, much like the ones he and Astrid had worn, except he had etched Windshear into the silver. Fishlegs would have similar ones, but images of Meatlug were engraved on his. In my hands was the sword Hiccup had made for me. It was nearly identical to my father's sword, just shinier because of the new metal.

I looked down at my body, my eyes traveling down over my chest and then stopping at my belly.

"Fishlegs wants to have kids right away," I said quietly.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Astrid asked.

"Neither, I guess. I just don't know how I feel about kids. He wants them so badly. But I, on the other hand…" I trailed off.

Valka came up to me and rested her hands on my shoulders. "You're having doubts. Why?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess because of my parents. I don't want to be like them," I said.

"You're afraid you'll fail your children as your parents failed you. Heather, that is an understandable worry, but you are not your parents. You will make an excellent mother someday, but when you feel you are ready. Talk to Fishlegs about this, he will understand," Valka reassured me.

"Heather, Hiccup and I have had similar conversations. He and I both had less than ideal experiences with our parents," she paused and glanced up at Valka.

"It's okay, Astrid. I know I didn't make the best choices all those years ago," Valka admitted sadly.

Astrid gave her a soft smile. "Hiccup and I decided together that we are going to do our best to wait a couple of years. But we also promised each other two or three years max, because we might not ever really think we are ready and with Hiccup being chief, we will need an heir," Astrid explained.

I sat down at Hiccup's desk.

"I guess I'll talk to Fishlegs at some point this week. I think setting a few years down the road is a good idea," I said.

"Yeah, why do it right now when you're so young. It's a cage. It is the end of your young life!" Ruffnut, who had been quiet up until now, stood up and started pacing the room.

Astrid, Cilla, and I glanced at each other.

"Ruffnut, you okay?" Cilla asked.

Ruffnut sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands.

I lifted my skirt above my ankles so I could walk more easily and sat down next to her. Astrid sat on her other side while Cilla and Valka stood in front of us.

"Ruffnut, what's wrong, dear?" Valka asked.

"It's nothing. My problem, not yours," Ruff mumbled.

"Ruffnut, you're our friend. We want to help you," I said, gently resting my hand on her back.

Ruff didn't look up at us. "I'm pregnant," she whispered.

I felt my eyes widen and I looked up at Astrid, Cilla, and Valka. They were both as surprised as I was.

"Um, Ruff, how?" Astrid asked.

Ruff rolled her eyes and looked up at us. "Well, Astrid, when a guy and a girl really like each other…" Ruffnut said sarcastically.

"No, Ruff, that's not what I meant," Astrid shut her eyes and waved her hands for Ruff to stop.

"We mean who exactly is the father, dear?" Valka asked.

"I don't want to say. I'm not proud of it. We were both just lonely and it was a long trip," Ruff muttered.

"Trip? Was this someone on the boat with us?" Astrid asked.

Ruffnut blushed. "Gods I need to just keep my mouth shut," She sighed.

"Ruffnut…" I sighed.

"Fine! It was Eret, okay? It was just one night. One night, and now I am stuck with this baby that I never wanted in the first place," Ruffnut groaned.

Eret and Ruffnut? Oh, gods…

"Eret? Ruff, have you told him?" Cilla asked.

"No, and I'm not going to. And you can't tell my brother!" she said stubbornly.

Cilla raised her hands in surrender. "I won't say a word to Tuff," she promised.

"Ruffnut, you have to tell Eret. It's his child. He has a right to know," Valka reminded her.

"I don't want him to know. I don't even know how to do any of this. I never wanted to have kids, at least not this early on," Ruffnut admitted.

"Hey, we are here for you. You don't have to do this all alone. We love you, Ruffnut. We'll help you with this," I promised.

"Heather is right. Even the boys will want to help. And your brother is going to be so excited to be an uncle!" Astrid reminded her.

"And you know I think of all of you as my children. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see one of you all becoming parents," Valka said.

Ruff smiled slightly. "Thanks, guys," she muttered.

"But, you do need to tell Eret," I said gently. The other three women murmured in agreement.

Ruff sighed. "I know, I just can't right now. Can you guys just keep this quiet, please?" she asked.

All four of us wrapped our arms around her in a group hug.

"We won't say anything. It isn't our secret to tell," I promised. Astrid, Cilla, and Valka agreed.

"Hey, ladies. They are ready for you out there," Gobber peeked his head in the door.

"Okay, we will be down in a minute," Valka assured him.

Gobber shut the door and went back downstairs.

Valka turned around to face us.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

I nodded and stood up.

"Let's go get me married!" I said happily.

* * *

The entire tribe was there, both Berserkers and Hooligans. Everyone wanted to witness this. I nervously gripped my father's sword with both hands, holding it against me, the point towards the ground.

But when I looked up and saw Fishlegs, everyone else faded away. Suddenly it was just me and him. I finally reached him and turned to face him. Dagur stood next to us.

"I'd like to thank everyone for joining us today to not only celebrate the merging of two amazing tribes, but also to honor the wedding of my sister, Heather, to this nerd, Fishlegs," Dagur began.

Everyone laughed at the last comment about Fishlegs. Fishlegs even laughed.

"We will start by exchanging the swords. This is a Berserker tradition. It is usually used to symbolize the coming together of two households, but as there are no parents of either bride or groom, may they rest peacefully in Valhalla, the sword exchange will symbolize the coming together of two tribes. The Berserkers and the Hooligans. Fishlegs, you can go first," Dagur announced, whispering the last sentence to my groom.

Fishlegs smiled at me. "Heather," he said nervously, "I present to you the sword of my ancestor, Ingar Ingerman." He held the hilt of the sword out towards me. It was tradition to hold it so that if the bride wished, she could push it forward to injure the groom. It was the only way a bride could get out of a marriage. But I wasn't about to do that. I carefully wrapped my fingers around the hilt and accepted the heavy sword as gracefully as I could and handed it to Astrid.

"Your turn, sis," Dagur whispered.

"Fishlegs," I said with more confidence than what I was feeling, "I present to you, a replica of the sword of my father, Oswald the Agreeable, former chief of the Berserker tribe."

I held the hilt out, the point of the sword directed towards the ground. The groom never got the same option the bride got. Fishlegs smiled at me and accepted the sword with ease. He handed it to Hiccup and then we both looked to Dagur.

"Now that the tribes have come together, the bride and groom will make their marriage official by exchanging rings and their vows. Fishlegs," Dagur nodded towards my fiance, who, in just a few short moments, would be my husband.

Fishlegs turned towards Hiccup, who handed him a small silver ring. He knew I didn't like gold as much as silver. It didn't have any diamonds or jewels, just a small pattern of sharp angles etched into the band. The design reminded me of Windshear's scales. It was simple, just the way I wanted it. I smiled at how thoughtful he was. Fishlegs held the ring with his right hand and held my hand in his left.

"Heather, we may have had a bit of a rocky start when we first met, but I wouldn't change that for anything. When we were older, you joined us on The Edge, you became a trusted ally and friend to all of us, but you became so much more to me. You became my best friend, the person I trusted with everything. You became the love of my life, Heather. I can't promise I'll be a perfect husband, but I can promise I will try. I have known for a long time now that you are the only woman I want to spend my life with," he slid the ring onto my finger, "I love you, and can't wait to see the life the gods have in store for us," he said. I smiled, tears in my eyes. I loved him so much.

Dagur smiled and nodded at me.

Astrid handed over the ring I had for Fishlegs. It was silver like mine, but the design on it was more sharp and rough, like Grockle skin. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Fishlegs, when I first met you, I thought you were the smartest and most handsome viking I had ever met. And when I got to know you on The Edge, I discovered I had been right. But not only are you intelligent and handsome, but you are also kind and caring. You are always there when I need you, and I want to always be there for you. When I saw you again after the dragons left, I wondered why I had ever let you go. You are the only man I ever want to be with. We will make mistakes and then we will fix them together. I promise to love you and stand by you no matter what. I love you more than anything in the world, Fishlegs," I finished and wiped away the few tears that had slipped down my face. I slid the ring onto his finger and we beamed at each other.

Dagur was about to cry too, as was Fishlegs, and pretty much all of our friends. We had all waited a long time for this. He picked up the long cloth that the Hooligans used.

"Well, now that those incredibly sweet words are out of the way, I can do this," Dagur said and the audience laughed.

He slowly wrapped the cloth around our entwined hands.

"This symbolizes the union of the bride and the groom. We already merged the tribes and the families together, but that is not all that comes together during a wedding. The bride and groom become husband and wife, a bond that is deeper than any other," Dagur announced as he finished the last wrap of the cloth.

"Fishlegs, you may now kiss your bride," Dagur finished, smiling proudly at the two of us.

I looked into Fishlegs's eyes and saw nothing but love and adoration and I hoped that is all he saw in mine. He leaned in and slowly moved his lips against mine. The crowd erupted into loud cheers, drowning out any other noise. I was sure the neighboring tribe, which was hundreds of miles away, could probably hear the sound. When Fishlegs pulled away he handed the cloth to Dagur so he could move his hands to my waist and pull me closer for a deeper kiss.

In that one moment, he and I were the only vikings in the world.

* * *

The rest of the celebration was the most fun I had had in a long time. There was amazing food, singing, and dancing. It was so fun to be able to watch the Hooligans and Berserkers teach each other their dances and songs. At one point Dagur somehow convinced me to perform a traditional Berserker dance with him, complete with a Berserker battle cry at the end. Everyone seemed to enjoy that one.

So many people approached me and Fishlegs to congratulate us. I lost track of how many times exactly.

Everyone ate until they were full, danced until their feet were sore, sang until their throats were hoarse, and drank until they had no cares. Well everyone but Ruffnut, who couldn't drink for obvious reasons. While Fishlegs was having a conversation with the boys, I approached Astrid, Cilla, and Ruffnut.

"So how does it feel to be a wife now?" Astrid asked.

"Pretty amazing. It is kind of weird too. I traded 'chief' for 'wife'. I just can't believe my time as a chief is over," I said.

"Well, once you have been a chief, it never really leaves you," Cilla commented.

"That is true. Plus, when Fishlegs and I get back my brother will have his chief ceremony. I have a feeling that with my brother as chief, I will still be helping with most of the decisions," I chuckled.

This got a good laugh from my friends.

We all were silent for a few moments.

"Ruffnut, Eret is standing by himself over there," I gestured to the young man leaning against the wall, "now is a good time to tell him."

"I agree. You need to tell him sooner rather than later," Astrid commented.

Ruffnut bit her lip nervously but nodded. "Okay, just can you guys stay here? In case he doesn't take it well," she asked shyly.

"Of course! We aren't going anywhere," I promised.

Ruffnut took a deep breath and approached Eret.

We couldn't hear what was being said, but we could see the facial expressions.

Ruffnut started out being extremely nervous, and then we knew when she told him because his eyes grew to be as big as Gronckle eggs. Ruff looked like she was actually in pain while she waited for a response, but he never said anything. Eret just wrapped his arms around her waist and tightly hugged her. Ruffnut looked confused at first but eventually returned the hug.

I sighed in relief.

"I didn't realize I was holding my breath until that happened," Cilla muttered.

I laughed. "Same here," I agreed.

"Heather? Oh! There you are!" Fishlegs said happily.

"Hey, love. What's going on?" I asked.

"It's time for us to go," he said.

I smiled and nodded. I gave Astrid a quick hug.

"See you in a week," I promised.

"I would say to have fun, but that's already a given," she teased.

I rolled my eyes but smiled just the same. My hand found Fishlegs's and we walked out of the Great Hall, the crowd of vikings watching our every move, and approached the horses Snotlout had arranged for us.

Hiccup and Astrid's wedding present to us was a week in their hut in the woods. It was secluded and quiet, perfect for a honeymoon.

Fishlegs helped me onto my horse, the dress was getting in the way, then he mounted his. We waved to everyone as we rode away.

The hut wasn't too far away, just about an hour on horseback.

"There it is!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

I smiled when I saw it. It was cute. Very simple. Just a few windows, two rooms, and flowers lining the outside of the building, but it was perfect.

Fishlegs tied the horses up then reached up and helped me down. My feet weren't on the ground very long, though, because in just a few seconds I was in my husband's arms. I kissed him as he carried me into the house. Once we were through the door he gently set me on my feet.

"This is nice," he commented.

"It is," I agreed quietly.

"So… What do you want to do?" he asked sheepishly.

I shook my head at him and stepped closer to him. I leaned in close and brushed my lips over his.

"I can think of a few things," I whispered.

Fishlegs smiled and pulled me close to him.

I felt his fingers find the buttons on the back of my dress and he started unfastening them. Soon my dress was slipping off my shoulders and down to my ankles. He ran his hands all across my body as I started tugging at his tunic.

The rest of the night went about as one would expect, and it was amazing.


	27. Conversations

Conversations

Rays of sunlight streamed through the shutters on the windows. I sighed and rolled over in bed to face my husband. I gently ran my fingers over his cheek. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping.

"Fishlegs," I whispered.

He groaned and rolled over.

I giggled. "Fishlegs its morning," I said a little louder.

"Just a few more minutes," he mumbled.

I cuddled up against his back and stated leaving kisses all over the back of his neck.

He rolled over to face me. "I'm awake," he said quickly.

I laughed and kissed him. His hands moved to my back and he pulled me against him.

"Good morning," I whispered as I planted a kiss on the bridge of his nose.

"Good morning, beautiful," he replied.

I sighed contentedly and rested my head against his chest. If only we could stay that way forever.

"So I've been thinking…" I muttered.

"About what?" Fishlegs asked. He ran his fingers through my hair.

"About us having kids," I replied.

"Oh? What are your thoughts on that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I was talking to the girls…"

"You were talking to the girls about us having kids?"

"I talk to them about everything. It's what women do," I chuckled.

He sighed. "Okay, continue."

"I guess I am kind of scared to have kids. I don't want to be like my parents."

"You could never be like your parents."

"I know that. I just… Do you think we could wait a couple of years? I promise it won't be ten years, it will be much less."

"Like two?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Heather, we can wait as long as you need. I don't want to rush into something we aren't ready for. I especially don't want to push you into something you aren't comfortable with yet," he said.

I smiled at him. "I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," he replied.

His hand moved to the back of my neck and pulled me closer to him so he could press his lips against mine. I moved so that my body was pressed closely against him.

I could tell I was going to enjoy this week with my husband.

* * *

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

My sister is married.

My little sister is married!

I can't believe it.

And in just a few days I'll become the second chief of the Hooligan Berserker tribe.

But for now, it was time for me to get Eret's report on the fishing boats.

"Eret, Son of Eret!" I called out when I saw the man.

Eret smiled. "Hey, chief! Heard anything from the newlyweds?" he asked. He helped several vikings unload a huge net full of fish from one of the boats.

"Nope, but they should be coming back day after tomorrow," I replied.

"Okay, then. What can I help you with, Dagur?" he questioned.

"Just here for the week's fishing reports," I told him.

Eret nodded. "Well, the summer months are always the best ones. We have doubled our catches since last month. If we can preserve at least half of these in barrels, we will have plenty for the winter months," he reported.

I smiled. "Excellent! Hiccup will be glad to hear that. Well, I will let you get back to work, I promised Gobber I would go check out some new sword design he and Hiccup came up with," I said.

"Ah, very well then. You're going to make a good chief soon, mate," he said happily.

I smiled and waved as I started walking away.

"Oh, Dagur! Wait up a second!" Eret called out.

I stopped and turned to face him.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Can we talk for a few minutes?" Eret asked.

"Sure. I don't have to be at the forge right away," I commented.

"Okay. You want to maybe go get a drink at the Great Hall?" Eret asked almost nervously.

"Of course, brother," I responded.

We walked to the Great Hall together and I got us each a mug of mead.

I sat down at a table and handed Eret one of the mugs.

"What's going on, brother?" I asked.

"I was just wondering… How did you react when Mala told her she was pregnant?" Eret asked.

"Oh, this is about Ruffnut isn't it?"

"Aye, mate. She doesn't want this baby. Not even a little bit. Granted, she is a bit young, but I'm not. I don't know. I am just as surprised as she is, but I don't mind the idea of being a father. I just wish I could get her to come around on the idea, you know?" Eret explained. He took a long swig of the meed in his mug.

"Of course. Mala was nervous at first, but she came around. I'm not sure on Ruff, though. She is a pretty stubborn viking. Once she can feel the baby moving around inside her… It's so incredible. Mala would hold my hand over her belly whenever Ozzy or Marina would kick or move around," I chuckled at the memory, "Ozzy definitely was more lively than Marina. I was ecstatic both times Mala told me she was pregnant. It was just so incredible that two people could create a living, breathing, little human being."

Eret smiled. "I am more than excited! I was so happy when Ruff told me. But she was so upset about it. I didn't understand. And right now Ruffnut hates my guts. I doubt she will be letting me anywhere near her," he said sadly.

"It's your baby. She can't keep you away forever. She is probably just as nervous, if not more than you are. You two should probably talk. Voice your concerns. Having a baby puts a woman's body through so much. So many changes and then so much pain during labor. After witnessing Ozzy's birth and having to listen outside when Marina was born, I understand why she would be scared. You both need to get your concerns out in the open. Mala and I used to do this thing, we called it 'Worst Case Scenario.' She came up with it, not me. But we would sit down and voice our thoughts on what the worst thing that could happen would be. And usually, it was something completely ridiculous. After that anything that is even a little better than the worst case scenario was a blessing," I said.

"That sounds interesting," Eret commented.

I nodded in agreement. "Not my idea. Definitely more for Mala. But maybe it would help Ruffnut to voice her doubts. If she won't talk to you, at least try to get her to talk to her brother or Astrid… or anybody really. The more she talks, the more relief she will get. Same goes for you, brother," I said, "What's your worst case scenario?"

"The baby dies and Ruffnut never speaks to me again," Eret said bluntly.

"Well, then anything slightly better than that will be a miracle. I am sure the baby will be perfectly fine, and Ruffnut will get over the whole 'not speaking to you' thing… eventually."

"You're right, you know that?" Eret chuckled.

"You feel better?" I asked.

Eret nodded. "Yes," he said, "I feel a little better. I guess I'll talk to Ruffnut later."

I smiled and clapped my hand on his back encouragingly. "Good," I said.

I glanced up at the sundial outside the huge, heavy doors.

"Now I have to go. I'm going to get an earful from Gobber about how a chief always needs to be on time," I chuckled.

"Yeah, mate. You should get out of here. Thanks for talking with me. I needed that," Eret said gratefully.

"Of course, brother. Anytime," I replied. I stood and started making my way to the forge. Gobber wasn't going to kill me, but a serious injury was never out of the question.


	28. Two Alphas

Two Alphas

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

Today's the day!

Today is the day I become chief of the Hooligan Berserker tribe. Well… co-chief. But I couldn't be happier with the person I would be sharing the chiefly responsibilities with. Hiccup Haddock is a good man.

At the moment he and I were in my hut getting ready for the ceremony.

"Gods, these cloaks are heavy," I muttered.

"Yeah? Well, these swords are a bit much, don't you think?" Hiccup laughed as he straightened his belt that held his sword.

The ceremony would be half Berserker and half Hooligan, just like Heather and Fishlegs's wedding.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Hiccup called.

Astrid and Heather peaked their heads into the door.

Hiccup and I smiled at them.

"Hey, handsome," Astrid said. She walked up to Hiccup and put her arms around his neck. She stood on her toes to kiss him sweetly.

"You nervous, brother?" Heather asked as she approached me. She straightened the buckle on my fur cloak. She and Fishlegs had returned the night before.

"Nah, I think I'm good. I'm more excited than anything," I commented.

She smiled at me. "Good. You'll be great," she said encouragingly.

"Thanks, sis," I said.

"Boys, are you ready?" Valka asked as she walked into the room.

"Yeah, mom," Hiccup said with a smile.

He and I walked out of the room, the girls following behind us.

The ceremony was being held in front of the Great Hall, and it was more crowded than I had ever seen it. Everyone was there. It almost looked like more people than there had been at the merger.

"Should I be offended that more people came to see my brother become chief than came to see me get married?" Heather laughed. Astrid put her arm around her and they walked over to stand off to the side a little bit. Since they would be our battle chiefs, they would stand beside us during the ceremony.

Gothi was already there. She had that bowl of charcoal with her. It would be a fairly short event, but definitely one of the most meaningful. Heather would be performing the Berserker half of the ceremony because she would be giving her rights as chief to me and Hiccup.

Gothi motioned for us to stand in front of her and Hiccup and I took our positions. She hit her staff against the crowd to get everyone's attention. This effectively got the vikings to shut up.

The silent old woman waved her staff over Hiccup's head, then my head.

"That means she wants us to kneel," Hiccup whispered as he turned a knob on his prosthetic leg so he could get down.

I quickly followed suit and got down on one knee. The little viking woman smiled and nodded at us. She motioned for Heather to come up first.

Heather stood in front of us and smiled down at us before looking up to the crowd.

"On this day, I relinquish my title as chief and all that goes with it, to Hiccup Haddock and Dagur the Deranged," she announced.

Yeah, I really need to get the deranged thing changed.

Heather took a deep breath then took the Berserker chief sword from its place on her belt and yelled as she struck it into the ground. Fishlegs and Snotlout stood up and took the swords from mine and Hiccup's belts and handed them to Heather. She took them and nodded for Fish and Snot to go back to the crowd. Snotlout went back to stand beside Willow, whose family had accepted the Jorgenson marriage contract. They would be married in just a few weeks time.

"These two viking men will share the responsibilities of being chief. They will have equal power and equal say in all that takes place within the Hooligan Berserker tribe," she said loud enough for everyone to hear.

I reached my hand out and grasped the hilt of the sword she had placed in the ground and Hiccup reached up and grasped it as well so that we both had a hand on the sword.

Heather stepped down and Gothi stood before us once again. She lifted Hiccup's chin with her staff and reached into her bowl, rubbing some of the soot between her fingers before drawing half of the symbol for chief on his forehead. Only the left half. Then she tilted my head up and drew the right half on my forehead. She smiled at us and motioned for us to stand up.

Hiccup and I stood, pulling the sword up with us. We turned to face the crowd, the sword between us, the drawings on our foreheads lined up so that if we stood directly next to each other it would make the whole symbol.

"Long live Chief Hiccup! Long live Chief Dagur!" Everyone shouted and cheered. Hiccup and I both smiled as we raised the sword up into the air, showing that we were a team. We would do this job together and not in rivalry.

The crowd was cheering so loudly it sounded like a roar. I laughed as I looked over my people. This right here is what I was born to do. It was always hard for me to be chief on my own. And then being king just didn't fit me. But I could definitely handle being co-chief. Especially if my partner was my best friend, my brother.

I don't think I will ever stop smiling.

Hiccup and I had to put the sword back on the ground as Astrid ran towards him and hugged him. He wrapped both his arms around her waist

If only Mala could be here for this. She would be so proud. As I watched Hiccup and Astrid I couldn't help but feel a wave of loneliness wash over me. There were many women in the tribe that I knew would jump at the chance to be a chief's wife. Some might even actually like me and not care about the title. But Mala was the only woman for me. She knew me inside and out. She was the mother of my children. No, I would never marry again. I guess I always knew that. And I was actually at peace with that fact. Eventually, my friends would start having kids, one was actually already on the way. Then I could be the best uncle to ever have lived!

I chuckled at the thought of tiny versions of my friends on the loose. I wasn't going to feel sorry for myself anymore. Mala, Ozzy, and Marina wouldn't want that. I took a deep breath and looked out over the crowd once more. This was a great moment for the Hooligan Berserker tribe. A moment that I would never forget it.

* * *

**Hello Readers!**

**I hope you have enjoyed reading the last few chapters as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Writing this story has made me realize just how much I love writing from our Berserker friends' points of view. **

**The next few chapters will have several time hops, just so I can get to where I want this story to end. Don't worry, the time hops will be done in good taste and you will love the chapters that come from them.**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	29. Give and Take

Give and Take

_*Heather's Point of View*_

"It's a boy! It's a boy! I have a son!" Snotlout shouted as he slammed the front door of the house open.

We all jumped up from our spots in the grass and congratulated him.

"Snotlout that's great!" I said excitedly.

"Does he have a name?" Hiccup asked.

"He sure does! Spikelout Jorgenson!" Snotlout said proudly.

I chuckled. Of course, the poor thing would get one of the infamous Jorgenson names.

"Sounds like a name that will surely get all the girls," Hiccup laughed. He didn't really mean what he said, but Snotlout took it as a compliment.

"Tell that to Willow! The only way I could get her to let me name him that is if I promised to let her name the next one," he said.

I shook my head and glanced over at Fishlegs. He and I had been trying for months now, and still nothing. It had been so easy for Snotlout and Willow to get pregnant.

Later that night Fishlegs and I were in our bedroom. I sighed as I brushed my braid out. My hands fell to my lap.

"You okay, dearest?" Fishlegs asked, looking up from the book he was reading.

I shook my head silently.

He got up out of bed and knelt in front of me.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"How is it so easy for the others to get pregnant? We've been trying for months now, Fishlegs. Months! And I'm still not pregnant. Am I doing something wrong? Is something wrong with me?" I asked.

"Heather… Nothing is wrong with you! Sometimes it just takes time. We will have a baby. It might take us a little longer, but we'll get there. Right now we can just enjoy having two awesome nephews," Fishlegs said reassuringly.

I nodded. "We are pretty awesome at being an aunt and uncle…" I agreed.

"Exactly! And when it is our turn to have a baby, we will be the best parents in all of viking history!" he said excitedly.

I laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. "You are amazing," I told him.

"Thanks. I try," he chuckled.

I shook my head at him and kissed him again.

* * *

**This half of the chapter takes place a month after Spikelout's birth and just a few weeks or so after the Quakes epidemic mentioned in How to Say Goodbye**

"I haven't seen a dress design like this since the last Gathering Of The Chiefs meeting I went to," I said to Astrid, who was standing behind me. I moved the soft fabric between my fingers.

Astrid and I were shopping in the market. Several traders had come in and it was always fun to see the things they brought from far off places.

"Oh, I recognize that design! Bog Burglar, right?" Astrid asked.

I nodded. "I believe so."

"Okay, come on! I need to get some yak chops for dinner. Hiccup has been asking for some all week," Astrid said, linking her arm through mine and pulling me towards the butcher shop.

I pulled her to a stop at the fish cart.

"Hold on, I am going to get some fish for dinner tonight," I said.

I began selecting the fish I was going to buy.

"Uh, Mrs. Ingerman?" the boy running the cart said nervously. It was his father's cart.

"Yes?" I asked, looking up from the fish.

The boy just pointed behind me. I turned around and saw Astrid bent over behind some bushes.

"Oh, gods" I whispered. I picked up my basket and ran over to my friend, reaching her just in time to hold her hair up as she threw up into the bush. I rubbed her back soothingly and knelt beside her, offering her a rag to wash up with when she had finished.

She was so pale.

"Astrid, what happened?" I asked worriedly.

"I don't know. The smell of the eels just made me really nauseous and the next thing I knew…" she waved her arms at the bush she had knelt in front of.

I helped her stand up. "Let's get you cooled off," I said softly.

She let me help her to the stream. Once there, I took the rag from her and cleaned it off. Then I soaked it in the cool water and held it to her face.

"Why did that make you sick? I should go get Hiccup," I said, moving to get up. But Astrid grabbed my arm.

"No, don't get Hiccup," Astrid groaned.

I paused and looked down at her. "Why?" I asked.

"Because… I'm pregnant," she whispered.

"Astrid! That's great! When are you due? How long have you known? Why haven't you told Hiccup?" I asked quickly as I knelt beside her.

"I just don't want him to worry," Astrid said.

"Astrid, he is going to be ecstatic!" I told her.

"I know! I just don't know how to tell him. Please just don't say anything until I tell him," she pleaded.

"Of course. It isn't my place to say anything. But right now I think we should get you back to your house," I said as I helped her stand up.

"I can get there myself. You have to go home anyway," Astrid reasoned.

"Okay… You sure you'll be okay?" I questioned, just to make sure.

"I'm fine! I'll be okay," she said sincerely.

"Then I'll see you later," I said.

I started walking home but turned to look over my shoulder. "Tell him!" I called out behind me.

_*two months later*_

"I don't know, sister… Do you really think this new training program would be effective?" Dagur asked.

"Of course! I know we are at peace, and we hopefully will be for years to come! But that doesn't mean we can't be ready in case something happens," I explained.

"Okay, well if you and Astrid both think building an arena like the one we had on old Berk will be helpful, then we can definitely do that. Kids can start training when they reach fourteen winters. If that's okay with you, chief?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't see anything wrong with being prepared. I can get the carpenters and stonemasons to begin work next week, chief" Dagur said.

I smiled. "Excellent. Astrid will be so excited. Where is she, by the way?" I asked.

"She asked for a day off. She has been feeling sick lately," Hiccup explained.

"Hiccup!"

"Fishlegs?" I said in surprise as my husband burst into the chiefs' office.

"Hiccup, it's Astrid. She started bleeding and she told me she is pregnant! And she shouldn't be bleeding if she is pregnant and I think something is wrong," Fishlegs managed to say worriedly between gasps for air. He had run all the way here.

"She's what?!" Hiccup shouted worriedly. He started running towards the house.

"Someone go get my mom!" he called back over his shoulder. Dagur immediately left to tell Valka.

I rushed over to my husband.

"She was bleeding?" I asked.

He nodded. "I asked if she had started her cycle or something. She looked like she was in pain," he said.

I felt tears in my eyes. "She's having a miscarriage. I've seen it before," I said quietly.

"Hey, she'll be okay," Fishlegs said. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.

"Can we go?" I asked.

"Go where?" he asked.

"I have to know if she's okay," I said.

"Let's go," Fishlegs said, taking my hand in his.

We left the office and started walking to the Haddock house.

As we approached the house we could hear Astrid inside.

"Oh, gods…" I whispered, tightening my grip on his hand.

"She'll be fine. This is Astrid, one of the strongest vikings we know," he reminded me.

Astrid cried out from inside the house.

"She'll be okay," I whispered to myself.

Soon the yelling stopped and Valka left the house. She had tears on her cheeks. I had never seen her cry.

"Valka, are they okay?" I asked, wiping tears of my own from my eyes.

"It was a little boy," she said quietly.

I stepped forward and hugged her. She let me hug her for a few more moments.

"They'll be okay. It will take time, but they will be okay," the older woman said sadly.

I sighed and looked over at my husband.

"I have to go. Just give them a while to themselves, okay?" Valka told us.

I nodded in agreement. Valka gave us a sad smile before she turned to go back to her home.

* * *

**Hello Readers,**

**I am conflicted, so I figured I might ask you guys your opinion on something.**

**So I have two different ending ideas to this story. One sets it up for another story that takes place after How to Say Goodbye plus a bonus one-shot story, the other kind of wraps it all up in a way. **

**The only thing is, I went off canon with the one shot. Like it could still technically work in the canon HTTYD universe, but it is a stretch. **

**I just want to know what you guys think. Should I wrap up the story or give you guys a crazy plot twist?**

**I will make a poll for it and you guys can vote on my profile!**

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	30. A Lot Can Change In One Year

A Lot Can Change In One Year

"Fishlegs!" I called out from our bedroom upstairs.

"Coming!" Fishlegs yelled. He ran up the stairs loudly and barged into the room.

"What is it? Are you okay? Is it time? I'll go get Olga!" he said quickly.

"No! Fishlegs, it isn't that!" I said as I slowly stood up.

He rushed over to me. "Then what is it?" he asked.

"Can you help me get my boots on? I can't reach," I explained, looking down at my very round stomach.

Fishlegs chuckled and kissed my cheek. "Of course, dearest," he said as he knelt down to help me with my boots.

"I just want this baby out already!" I groaned.

"We still have four weeks," Fishlegs reminded me.

"Why? Why did you have to tell me that right this moment? I am very pregnant, can't see my feet, can't even get dressed or put my boots on without help, and you tell me I have to suffer through four more weeks of this?" I sighed frustratedly.

Fishlegs finished and stood back up, taking my hand to help me up from my chair.

"You can do it, babe. I believe in you," he said encouragingly, if not somewhat teasingly as well.

I rolled my eyes and started walking downstairs.

"I can't even walk right anymore! I waddle. Me, a Berserker warrior and former chief, waddling down those Thor damned stairs!"

"You are beautiful, my love," Fishlegs responded, kissing the back of my head.

"Shut up," I replied.

"Are you meeting Astrid today?" he asked.

"Yeah, she and I are going to work on making some baby clothes. You still think it's going to be a girl?" I asked.

"Oh, it is for sure going to be a girl. You still think it is a boy?" he asked.

"One Hundred percent a boy," I replied.

Fishlegs laughed. "Well, have fun. I'll see you when I get home tonight. Love you," he said, leaning in to kiss me.

"Love you too. Have fun spouting random plant facts to kids all day," I teased.

"Very funny," he said as he smiled at me. He walked with me to the road then we turned and went our separate ways. He was going to The Great Hall to his once a week class teaching the village's children about the tribe's history and how to read and write. I, on the other hand, was going to the Haddock house.

"Astrid!" I called out once I was in the front yard.

Astrid opened the door and helped me up the steps and into their house. I hated that I needed help doing something as simple as walking up a few steps.

"Heather! How are you feeling? Valka is letting me borrow her good needles today. They are much better than mine since Hiccup can't seem to find the time to make me some new ones," she laughed as we sat down on their couch.

"Look what I found at the market," I said, holding up a soft blue fabric.

"Heather, it's lovely. Where is it from?" she asked.

"The trader said it is from the Feather People to the west of us," I commented.

"Well, I found some fabric too," Astrid said, picking up a folded up bit of purple fabric.

"You and Fishlegs both think it'll be a girl," I laughed.

"You are the only one that thinks it is a boy!" Astrid retorted. She laid the fabric out and began cutting it to shape.

"Fishlegs is absolutely convinced it is a girl because of something he read that said if you look at a pregnant woman from behind and can't tell that she is pregnant, then it's a girl," I explained.

"Oh, well I just think it is a girl because I think you two would be really cute with a daughter. Not that you wouldn't be cute with a son, I'm just saying… Can't you just picture Fishlegs with a little girl version of himself? That would be so sweet," Astrid commented.

I smiled at the thought. "Okay, you're right. That would be adorable," I agreed.

"See? Told ya," Astrid said.

"You know what I am excited about?" I asked.

"What?" Astrid asked.

"Us training our kids together! That will be so much fun! Teaching them to defend themselves, teaching them strategies," I said happily.

Astrid smiled from ear to ear. "I love that idea! It's going to happen," she said.

"Are you and Hiccup still trying?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I am getting frustrated," she commented as she handed the cut fabric to me.

"Don't worry. Remember how long it took me and Fishlegs?" I asked.

"That's true. And now look at you," she teased.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her.

"You're a pain in the butt, you know that?" I replied.

"Yep!" she laughed.

I laughed too but stopped when I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. I winced and shifted in my seat.

"Gods…" I groaned and sat up straighter to try to alleviate it.

"What is it?" Astrid asked.

"Just back pain," I replied.

"You sure it is back pain? That's where Ruffnut felt the first labor pains when she had Eret Jr," Astrid commented.

"I'm sure it's just back pain. I still have four more weeks, unfortunately," I said.

Astrid nodded. "If you say so," she said.

I started sewing the small pieces of fabric together. The back pains only got worse and worse every minute.

After a particularly sharp one, I groaned and reached out to Astrid. She quickly took my hand and sat beside me. "You want me to get Olga?" she asked.

"I don't think it is labor, but that might be a good idea…" I said.

Just then Hiccup walked into the house. "Astrid, I'm home!" he called out. Then he saw me. "Uh, is everything okay?" he asked.

"I'm just going to go get Olga. Would you mind taking Heather home?" Astrid asked.

"Olga? Are you having the baby?" Hiccup asked, a concerned expression on his face.

"No, it's just back pain," I assured him.

"Okay. I am happy to help any way I can," Hiccup said.

I slowly stood up and accepted Hiccup's outstretched hand.

Astrid left to get Olga, since she was the fastest between her and Hiccup.

"Thanks for helping me out, Hiccup," I said.

"Of course. What are friends for?" he said happily.

We walked back to my house and saw Fishlegs was there waiting for us.

"Astrid told me she was getting Olga! Are you okay?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. It's just some back pain," I said.

Then a much sharper pain started in my back but started spreading to my whole body.

I groaned and Fishlegs took my hand.

"Heather?" he said nervously.

"I'm fine. Really, I am," I said once the pain subsided.

"I don't think that was fine…" Hiccup commented.

"Guys, stop fussing! Really I'm fine." No sooner had I said it then I felt my leggings become wet.

"Uh, Heather," Hiccup said awkwardly.

"Babe, I think your water just broke," Fishlegs commented.

"Yeah, you think?" I said curtly as another wave of pain overcame me.

"It's okay, Olga is on her way," Fishlegs said soothingly as he and Hiccup walked inside and upstairs with me.

"Fishlegs, isn't it too early? We still have four weeks," I groaned.

"That isn't all that early. We might have just miscounted at the beginning," he said as he rubbed my back.

Then Astrid ran into the room.

"So, uh, I have some bad news," she said.

"Yeah we have some new," I said between groans.

"Oh, my gods are you in labor?" Astrid asked as she rushed over to the bed.

"Yeah. My water broke about ten minutes ago," I said. I squeezed Fishlegs's hand as another contraction hit.

"Oh, gods… Guys, Olga can't come. She is helping Gothi with a serious injury on the other side of the island and Valka is out in the fields!" Astrid said worriedly.

Oh, Thor. I started breathing more heavily.

"What do we do? I don't know how to do this!" I said hurriedly.

"Breathe, dearest. It'll be okay. We can do this. We have Hiccup and Astrid too," He said as calmly as he could.

I looked over at our friends and they nodded. "We can help however we are needed. Plus Astrid and I have both seen this done before," Hiccup assured me.

"Exactly! Everything will be okay," Fishlegs said.

I wasn't so sure. I trusted my friends, of course, but this was something that could go wrong in so many different ways.

"C-can I just talk to Fishlegs for a minute?" I asked.

Hiccup and Astrid nodded and left the room.

"I'm scared," I whispered.

Fishlegs pulled me into a hug. "I am too," he admitted, "but right now, our baby is coming, and this is all we have. Our friends love us and they already love our baby. They won't let anything happen to it if they can help it."

Another contraction overcame me and I groaned loudly.

"Okay, go get them," I said between panting.

Fishlegs stood and opened the door for Astrid and Hiccup.

Astrid approached me and took my hand in hers.

"Okay, let's move you back so you can lean against the headboard," she said gently. They helped me move in between contractions.

It was getting harder to focus on anything but the pain now.

Astrid moved her hands to take off my leggings, but paused and looked up at me.

"I'm having a baby. It's fine," I assured her.

She swiftly took them off and had me open my legs so she could check my progress.

"It'll still be a while," she said, giving me a look of sympathy. I sighed in frustration.

"But I've been doing this for hours!" I groaned.

"Actually, it has only been forty-five minutes," Fishlegs corrected. I glared daggers at him.

Speaking of daggers.

"Does my brother know this is happening?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah he does, he's actually waiting outside," Hiccup said.

"Alone?" I questioned further.

"I think Cilla and the twins are down there with him," Hiccup commented.

"Heather, focus. Here comes another contraction. Remember to breathe," Astrid instructed.

I felt my muscles tighten and I cried out in pain.

"It's okay, babe. Breathe, my love," Fishlegs whispered to me. I gasped for air once the contraction ended, panting to catch my breath.

Minutes turned into hours, and still no sign of a baby.

"Why is this taking so long?" I asked between groans of pain when I noticed the sun had set.

"Sometimes it just takes a while, dearest. Especially a woman's first baby," Fishlegs said, leaning over to kiss my sweaty forehead.

I gave him a small smile before gritting my teeth again with another contraction.

"Astrid, please tell me I'm getting close!" I yelled.

Astrid checked my progress one more time.

"In just a few minutes you'll be able to push!" she said excitedly. She and Hiccup started discussing a few things they would need to get, like a blanket and some warm water to clean the baby off, also some cloths to clean everything up.

ABout ten minutes later, Hiccup came back with everything he and Astrid had discussed.

I felt Astrid check me one last time.

"Heather you can start pushing now! Push with the contractions," she instructed.

As my muscles tightened again I squeezed my husband's hand so hard I thought it might break. I yelled as I pushed as hard as I could.

"Yes! That's it! You're doing so good, Heather. We can see it's head," Astrid said.

Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Keep pushing like that and you'll have a baby in no time!" he encouraged.

The contractions weren't even separated anymore, it was like one big one. I wasn't sure how much longer I could take this, but I continued to push anyway.

"The head is out!" Astrid exclaimed happily.

I remember Olga saying the shoulders were the hardest part. I tilted my chin down to my chest and pushed my feet against the mattress of the bed as I pushed as hard as I could. I screamed when the pain became unbearable.

"One more, Heather!" Hiccup said, reaching out to take my other hand. I squeezed both Fishlegs's and Hiccup's hands, a scream escaping my lips as I pushed one last time.

Then it was done.

And the cries of a baby filled the room.

I started laughing and crying all at once as Fishlegs put his arms around me.

"I was right! It's a girl!" he announced excitedly.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"Heather, she is absolutely perfect!" Astrid said as she put the tiny baby in my arms.

I held her against my chest. They hadn't cleaned her yet, but I didn't care. She was so perfect.

"Hi, baby," I whispered, tears on my cheeks. The little baby continued to cry.

"Shhh it's okay," Fishlegs said soothingly to our tiny daughter.

After a few moments, Hiccup gently took her so he and Astrid could clean her up.

Fishlegs placed his hand on the side of my face and turned my head to face him. He gently pressed his lips to mine.

"You are amazing. I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I replied as I kissed him once more.

Astrid walked back over, my daughter now clean and wrapped up in a soft blanket.

"Do you guys have a name picked out?" Hiccup asked.

"Mila," Fishlegs said softly as I gently placed the baby into his arms so he could have a turn holding his daughter.

"Mila Astrid," I finished.

"Guys!" Astrid exclaimed, swiping at the tears in her eyes. "You are making me cry," she complained.

I laughed at my friend and reached a hand out to her, squeezing her hand lovingly.

"Can I come up now?"

I laughed when I heard my brother.

"Come on up, brother!" I called down.

In about ten seconds my brother had run into the room and was standing by the bed.

"Oh, my gods! Heather! She is amazing!" he said, staring at his niece in awe.

"Would you like to hold your niece?" Fishlegs asked.

Dagur's eyes widened. "Can I?" he asked.

I laughed. "Of course you can!" I responded.

Fishlegs carefully handed Mila to Dagur. Dagur sat down on the side of the bed and held Mila close to him.

"I remember holding Marina and Ozzy like this," he said quietly.

"You are going to be the best uncle," I told him.

"Thanks, sis," he said sincerely.

"I'm here!" Olga shouted as she ran up the stairs. She burst into the room. "Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw the baby.

"Hi, Olga," I said quietly. I was exhausted.

"Oh! She is just perfect," Olga said. Astrid and Hiccup said goodbye and let Olga check me and Mila to make sure we were both okay. But everything was fine. The midwife cleaned everything up and helped me into a fresh night dress.

"You need to get some sleep," Olga told me. I yawned and nodded in agreement.

"I will stay downstairs. You guys yell if you need anything," she said as she ushered my brother out of the room.

I sighed and curled up in my bed. Fishlegs pulled the crib over to the side of the bed and gently laid our sleeping baby in it. He laid down behind me, his arm gently resting over my waist.

We fell asleep together and all three of us were so exhausted that we slept through the night.

* * *

**Okay, Readers!**

**Only two more chapters, one is the epilogue!**

**If you want the story to end and get wrapped up, don't read the epilogue! I decided to go ahead and do the twist. I really enjoyed writing it. **

**I already have a (very long) one-shot written to give you some background about the twist I have written. I will post it a few days after I finish up Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker. It is going to be rated M because it covers some explicit content, so I will for sure have a clean summary of it at the beginning of the How to Say Goodbye sequel! The background one-shot will be called The Breakable Child. I have also decided that the sequel will be the last story in the How to Say Goodbye series, making it a trilogy. I felt if I delved further, it would get boring. But don't worry! I still have many other stories floating around in my mind!**

**I hope you have enjoyed reading Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker as much as I have enjoyed writing it. **

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings**


	31. Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker

Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker

_*Heather's Point of View*_

It has been seven years since the night Mila was born. Fishlegs and I had a second daughter, Ragnhild Ingrid, about three years after. Astrid and Hiccup had Zephyr about a year later, then came Nuffink the same year as Ragnhild. Tuffnut and Cilla got married and had a baby girl, whom Tuff insisted on naming Fluffnut. Almost all of my friends were expecting again. Everyone but Snotlout and Willow, they had their hands quite full enough with their eight-year-old lad, Spikelout. Astrid, Ruffnut, and Cilla were all pregnant.

But today Astrid and I were going to start training our oldest daughters. I had set up a few simple targets in the front yard and Astrid had brought two child-sized axes.

"Mama, I want to throw the ax!" Nuffink whined.

"You can when you are a little bigger, like your sister," Astrid promised, "Why don't you go play with Ragnhild?"

I hummed in amusement when I saw Nuffink's face light up.

"Okay!" he said excitedly.

Ragnhild was the same age as Nuffink, but she was quite small for her age. He was almost a whole head taller than her, but of course, Nuffink also had gotten both his mother's and his father's long legs, so he was tall for his age.

My daughter jumped in surprise when Nuffink ran over and hugged her. She giggled and they started playing hide and seek in my husband's flower garden.

"Okay, you two," I said, turning towards my oldest and her best friend.

"You guys ready?" Astrid asked.

Our daughters squealed in excitement and ran over to the targets.

"Zeph has been talking about this all week," Astrid commented.

"Mila has too," I chuckled.

"It's interesting. Zephyr definitely has her father's personality, but she wants to learn to fight like I used to. She doesn't like the idea of hurting anyone, though," Astrid said as she picked up the child-sized axes.

"Mila is a lot like me - more of a silent thinker," I said as I watched our daughters. It was kind of funny. Mila looked exactly like Fishlegs. She was built like a viking and had her father's blonde hair and green eyes. She hated when her hair was in her face, so she always insisted I help her pull it back into a tight braid.

Zephyr had gotten her sketchbook out and was drawing a picture of the targets. It was quite good for her age. Mila was watching silently, her eyes going back and forth from the targets to the page.

I picked up one of the axes.

"Okay, Mila. Come here, love," I said, waving my daughter over.

She smiled and ran over to me excitedly.

I carefully put the ax in her hands and began showing her how to hold it.

"You put this hand here… and then this one right here… now tighten your grip… there!" I said proudly as she held the ax up. She beamed up at me.

"There you go! That's so good!" I encouraged her as she slowly swung the ax to get a feel for it.

"Can I try throwing it now, mama?" Mila asked.

"Not yet, love. You have to get used to the weight of it first, then we can work on throwing it," I explained.

Mila nodded silently and practiced swinging the weapon back and forth.

I looked up to see how Zephyr was doing. Astrid already had her practicing different swings. I chuckled at the sight. It was such an Astrid thing to do, teach her daughter all the different ways to swing an ax on her first day of training.

After a few more minutes of getting used to the weight of their weapons, Astrid and I started helping the girls throw the axes at the targets. The targets were big and weren't set up too far away. We showed them how to safely throw the ax without risking it cutting them. They were both naturals.

"Okay, you want to practice by yourself a little?" I asked.

Mila nodded. "I can do it!" she said confidently.

"Okay, just remember to keep your eyes on the target, and make sure your grip is tight so the ax doesn't slip," I reminded her.

"I know, mama. You go talk to Aunt Astrid," Mila said, waving me off with her little hand.

I scoffed in surprise. "Well somebody has some sass today," I commented as I bent over to kiss my daughter's cheek.

"Eww!" she squealed as I walked away. I laughed and went to sit beside Astrid in the soft grass. "You feeling okay?" I asked.

Astrid rubbed her hand over her pregnant middle. "Yeah, I'm fine. It started kicking a few days ago," she said excitedly.

"Oh! That's great!" I said as I laid back in the grass, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my skin.

"Mommy!" Nuffink yelled as he ran towards us. I sat up quickly and saw Ragnhild was chasing him.

"What is it Nuffink?" Astrid asked as the boy ran to hide behind her.

"Raggy is going to kill me!" He said worriedly.

"And why are you going to kill your best friend?" I asked.

Ragnhild sat down in my lap and started to innocently braid some blades of grass together. I reached up and began combing some of the knots out of her dark hair with my fingers.

"Nuffink kissed me," she said.

"Did you?" Astrid asked the little boy hiding behind her.

"Just her cheek!" he said defensively.

"Why did you do that? You can't kiss a girl unless she says it is okay," Astrid reminded him.

"But daddy kisses you all the time!" Nuffink said.

Astrid and I both smiled at the boy's comment.

"Yes, baby. But that is different. Mommy and daddy are married, remember? And I like it when daddy gives me kisses," Astrid said.

"Oh," Nuffink said quietly.

"So what do you think you should do?" Astrid asked.

"Say I sorry to Raggy?" Nuffink questioned.

Astrid nodded. Nuffink cautiously approached Ragnhild.

"I'm sorry," Nuffink said shyly.

My daughter smiled at him. "It's okay. Just no more kisses! Not 'til we are grown up and married," she said.

My eyes widened and I stifled a laugh. I glanced over at Astrid and saw she was trying not to laugh just as hard as I was.

"Okay!" Nuffink said happily. He and Ragnhild went to play in Fishlegs's garden again.

"Okay, that was cute," I laughed.

Astrid laughed too. Our husbands were walking down the road next to the house. She waved them over.

"Hey, did you know that our kids are going to get married?" she asked.

Hiccup and Fishlegs both sat down next to us in the grass.

"Uh, what?" Fishlegs asked.

"Which of our kids? There's a bunch of them," Hiccup chuckled.

"Ragnhild and Nuffink," I said.

Fishlegs shook his head. "Nope! My little girl is never going to get married," he said decisively.

I shook my head at him and kissed his cheek.

"Well, she has other plans," I giggled.

Hiccup laughed. "How exactly did you guys find out about this one?" he asked.

"Nuffink gave Ragnhild a kiss on the cheek and she told him he wasn't allowed to kiss her again until they were grown up and married," Astrid explained.

"Nope!" Fishlegs said once more, making the rest of us laugh.

"Did you see your other daughter?" I asked, pointing over at Mila, who was getting quite good at throwing that ax of hers.

"Woah! She's pretty good!" he said proudly.

"You two taught them how to throw axes?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep! And they are both naturals," Astrid said, nodding her head towards her daughter, who had managed to hit the target just inches from the center.

"Good job, baby!" she called out. Zephyr giggled.

"Daddy!" she squealed when she saw Hiccup. The other kids heard her and were all excited to see that Hiccup and Fishlegs were both there. Hiccup was tackled to the ground by his rambunctious kids, while Fishlegs was greeted with hugs and then had two little girls sitting in his lap.

I smiled at the sight. It felt like it had only been a few days ago that we were all living on The Edge as Dragon Riders. Now, look where we were. We had families of our own. I sighed contentedly. I had never imagined I would end up with a life as good as this.

"Hello!"

I turned around to see my brother walking into the yard.

All four of the kids yelled, "Uncle Dagur!" excitedly and jumped up to see him.

"Well I just got rejected for Dagur," Hiccup said as Zephyr and Nuffink ran to their uncle.

Astrid laughed and kissed Hiccup's cheek. "You still have me," she said.

"And this one," he commented, placing his hand over her belly.

"You'll have that one until it can walk, then Dagur will win again," she teased.

"Oh, why would you say that?" Hiccup groaned.

"Uncle Dagur! Uncle Dagur! My mommy taught me to throw my ax!" Zephyr said proudly, showing him her target.

"My mama did too!" Mila said excitedly.

"Uncle Dagur! Nuffink kissed me," Ragnhild announced.

Dagur was being bombarded with new information about his nieces and nephews' day. He couldn't keep up so he just laughed.

"Okay! Okay! Go play!" he shouted with his giant friendly voice.

He walked over to us and sat down.

"You're the favorite, brother," I said.

Dagur took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's exhausting," he chuckled.

We all five watched as the kids started a game of tag.

"Can you guys believe that they are ours?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.

"It just feels so surreal sometimes. Like sometimes I wake up thinking that I'll be back on The Edge and that this is just some amazing dream," I sighed.

"I feel that way too, sometimes," Hiccup agreed.

"We worked hard to get here," Fishlegs said.

"That we did," I replied, nodding in agreement.

"I wouldn't change anything," Astrid commented.

"Neither would I," I said.

I glanced at Dagur.

"Well, obviously there are a few things I would change if I could, but I am content with where I am right now. I know I can't change anything, and I am finally okay with that," he said.

Fishlegs and Hiccup murmured an agreement.

I sighed and leaned my head on Fishlegs's shoulder.

He was right. It had taken a lot of work to get where we are now, but it was all worth it. Every loss, every struggle, every last bit of it was worth it when I saw those two girls smiling.

I was happy with where I was, though every now and then I missed my old home on Berserker Island.

"You're a Hooligan Berserker now," I thought to myself. And I was right, of course.

But I couldn't help but think that the title would never truly fit me. Sure, it was perfect for my children and all the other people in the village, but I was born a Berserker.

And as my brother and I always say, once a Berserker, always a Berserker.

* * *

**And that's it!**

**I have the epilogue written and ready to post for you guys. I hope you have enjoyed Once a Berserker, Always a Berserker! **

**The background for my next story will also be posted as a one-shot, however, it will have a lot of sexual content. So, for those of you who don't want to read that, which I do not mind at all, I will post a summary as the first chapter in the next full story I write that will be a sequel to How to Say Goodbye. **

**The epilogue for this story will go back to where we left our Hooligan Berserker friends in How to Say Goodbye.**

**I love writing these stories and I am so glad you all enjoy them! **

**Sincerely,**

**EverAfterWritings.**


	32. Epilogue - Brothers and Sisters

Epilogue - Brothers and Sisters

_*present day*_

_*Dagur's Point of View*_

"So, Nuffink finally proposed?" I asked Hiccup.

Hiccup laughed. "Yeah, he did! We wrote the papers up a few days ago, now we just need Fishlegs and Heather to sign them. Then he and Ragnhild can start planning a wedding," he said.

"Gods... Wasn't it only yesterday that they were all running around playing tag in Fishlegs's garden?" I chuckled.

"I know. I'm just glad I still have one more kid left, even if she does have her heart set on marrying that Thorston kid," Hiccup commented.

"Chiefs! There is a boat in our waters!" Spikelout called out from his look-out post.

"What colors does it fly?" I asked curiously, stepping beside the young man to look through the telescope.

"They aren't flying any colors at all," Spikelout said.

Hiccup took a turn looking through the telescope at the strange ship. It was small, about half the size of our ships. It flew no tribal flags and there wasn't any paint of any kind on the ship. There wasn't even a figurehead.

"Very strange," Hiccup commented.

"Do we let them come in?" I asked.

Spikelout looked through the telescope once more.

"Chiefs, I only see three people on the ship," he said.

"Oh?" I said curiously.

"It appears to be two men and a woman," the young viking commented.

"They might be refugees. Let them come in?" Hiccup asked, looking towards me. We always decided on everything as a team, especially when it was something big like this. I nodded in agreement.

"Bring them in," I said.

We started walking towards the docks so we could welcome the strangers. Along the way, we got Nuffink, future chief of the Hooligan Berserker tribe.

"This is a great chance to practice your speaking skills, Nuff," I said, teasing the kid about his shyness.

Nuffink shook his head at me. "At least I'm better than you, Uncle," he retorted. Hiccup laughed but quickly stopped when he saw my glare.

By the time we reached the docks, the ship was already almost into port.

We signaled to them so they would know where to go. Once the ship had been tied down, three Vikings, two men and a woman, disembarked the ship. The men stood on either side of the young woman in a protective manner.

The first man, obviously the oldest, looked to be in his mid/late twenties. He had startlingly green eyes and dark red hair that fell down his back in several braids. He was muscular and had broad shoulders, but not in the normal viking way. He was slimmer than other vikings.

The second man was standing protectively close to the young woman and looked to be in his early twenties. He had bright red hair and deep green eyes. He was buff, but not overweight. His hair was pulled back in a way similar to Eret's hair.

The woman definitely was quite pretty. She too looked to be in her early twenties and had blonde hair that fell just above her shoulders and soft green eyes. I noticed she had a small bundle in her arms. My eyes widened when it moved and I realized it was a baby.

"Hello! Welcome to Berk! May I ask who you are and what brings you here?" Nuffink asked kindly.

There was something about the second and third vikings that seemed so familiar.

The second young man spoke up first.

"Uh, hello. We are actually searching for somebody. Well, several people actually," he said.

"Oh? What are their names? We can do our best to help," Nuffink offered.

"Thank you. He is looking for Hiccup and Astrid Haddock," the red-haired man said, gesturing towards the man beside him.

"We are looking for Dagur the Deranged," the young woman said quietly.

"Oh! Well, you are in luck! Two of the three people you are looking for are right here!" Nuffink said, waving his hands towards Hiccup and me.

"This is Chief Hiccup and Chief Dagur," Nuffink introduced us.

The girl and the man she was standing with both immediately looked toward me. The girl covered her mouth as tears slipped from her eyes. The man looked like he could cry too.

Then I realized who it was and I felt my eyes tearing up too. How had I not noticed? The unkempt fiery red hair, the gentle green eyes…

"Ozzy? Marina?" I said, barely above a whisper.

The two nodded and ran towards me.

I laughed in disbelief as I embraced them.

"How on Earth?" I said incredulously as I pulled back to look at them. They were beaming back at me.

"B-but the island? Everything was destroyed!" I exclaimed. The tears were flowing freely down my cheeks now. I gently cupped a hand against either of their faces.

"Throk saved us," Marina explained.

"A-and your mother?" I asked hopefully.

They both looked down at their feet.

"She stayed behind to help as many people off as she could," Ozzy said, his voice heavy.

I nodded and wiped at the tears on my cheeks.

"I am so sorry. If I had known you were out there…" I started.

"It's okay. You couldn't have known," Ozzy said quickly.

"Good Thor, let me look at the two of you," I said, stepping back.

Ozzy was taller than me but was nearly identical. The only difference was the lack of scars and he had Mala's eyes and nose. Marina was breathtaking. How could I have helped make someone so beautiful? She could have been her mother's twin.

I let a sob of joy escape my lips as I pulled them back into a tight embrace.

"Who is this?" I asked, looking down at the baby in Marina's arms.

"This is Arlo, your grandson," she said softly.

"Grandson?" I wasn't sure if I had heard them right.

I carefully took the baby into my arms. He couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. I chuckled in disbelief.

"Who is his father?" I asked. Marina gestured to the first man.

"Brandt is," she explained shortly.

Nuffink turned to the other man.

"Brandt? Nice to meet you. I'm Nuffink," He said, holding his hand out to the man.

"Nice to meet you too. I really need to speak to Hiccup and Astrid Haddock," he said, cautiously shaking Nuffink's outstretched hand.

I couldn't help but notice as Hiccup's face went pale.

"You okay, brother?" I asked.

Hiccup nodded silently, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him.

"Nuffink, go get your mother. Tell her to hurry," he said.

"Mother?" Brandt said, turning to stare at Nuffink.

Nuffink smiled uncomfortably and ran to get Astrid. It wasn't five minutes before they came back along with Heather, Fishlegs, Mila, Ragnhild, Eira, and Zephyr, who had little Stoick Hagen in tow.

Heather looked over at me and saw who I was with. "Oh," she said quietly. She looked at me and I nodded. She laughed and ran towards her niece and nephew, giving them both a kiss on the cheek and a big hug.

"Aunt Heather?" Ozzy asked.

Heather nodded. "How? How are you hear?" she asked.

"It's a long story," Marina said, melting into her aunt's embrace.

"Who do you have, brother?" Heather asked when she noticed the baby.

"This is Arlo. I'm a grandpa!" I said excitedly. Heather smiled.

"Well, as the great aunt, am I allowed to hold him?" she asked.

I nodded and handed Arlo to her. She gently rocked him in her arms.

"Hiccup, what's the emergency?" Astrid asked. She stopped as soon as she saw Brandt.

"Oh my gods," she whispered. She held one hand over her mouth and the other over her heart as she started crying. She looked like she was about to fall and Eira stepped up to support her.

"Dad, what's going on?" Eira asked.

Brandt looked down at his feet. I noticed that Fishlegs was staring at the young man as well.

"Uh, kids, t-this is Brandt," Hiccup said, his voice shaky, "Your brother."


End file.
